Mahabharata 7.175.54 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 175, Shloka 54
इच्छन्ति पितर: पुत्रान् स्वार्थहेतोर्घटोत्कच । इहलोकात् परे लोके तारयिष्यन्ति ये हिता:
icchanti pitaraḥ putrān svārtha-hetor ghaṭotkaca | iha-lokāt pare loke tārayiṣyanti ye hitāḥ ||
โอ้ฆโฏตฺกจะ บิดาทั้งหลายปรารถนาบุตรด้วยเหตุแห่งประโยชน์ของตนเอง—ด้วยเชื่อว่าบุตรผู้ภักดีและปรารถนาดีจะพาตนข้ามจากโลกนี้ไปสู่โลกหน้า
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a traditional ethical expectation: parents desire children partly from self-interest, hoping that devoted offspring will perform duties (care, rites, remembrance) that are believed to aid the parents’ welfare in this life and their passage in the afterlife. It frames filial goodwill (hita) as spiritually consequential.
Vāyu-deva addresses Ghaṭotkaca and explains why fathers long for sons: they expect sons, as well-wishers, to ‘carry’ them from this world to the next. The statement functions as counsel about familial obligation and the moral weight of a son’s support.
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