Shloka 77

Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial

Devanagari script

नातश्षतुर्थ प्रसवमापत्स्वपि वदन्त्युत । अतः: परं स्वैरिणी स्थाद्‌ बन्धकी पञ्चमे भवेत्‌,“आर्यपुत्र! आपत्तिकालमें भी तीनसे अधिक चौथी संतान उत्पन्न करनेकी आज्ञा शास्त्रोंने नहीं दी है। इस विधिके द्वारा तीनसे अधिक चौथी संतान चाहनेवाली स्त्री स्वैरिणी होती है और पाँचवें पुत्रके उत्पन्न होनेपर तो वह कुलटा समझी जाती है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca | nātaś caturtha-prasavam āpatsu api vadanty uta | ataḥ paraṁ svairiṇī syād bandhakī pañcame bhavet ||

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说道：“噢，尊贵之子（Āryaputra）！即便在困厄之时，诸《沙斯特拉》亦不赞许越过所许之限而求得第四子。因此，女子若求嗣逾此尺度，便被称为‘svairiṇī’——任性而行、失于节制者；若至第五子出生，则被视为‘bandhakī’——名声败坏之妇。”

Word by Word

नnot

अतःtherefore; from this

चतुर्थम्fourth

प्रसवम्childbirth; begetting; offspring (act of giving birth)

आपत्सुin calamities; in times of distress

अपिeven; also

वदन्तिthey say; they prescribe

उतand; moreover (emphatic particle)

अतःtherefore

परम्after that; beyond; further

स्वैरिणीa wanton woman; a woman acting at her own will

स्यात्would be; should be

बन्धकीa kept woman; concubine (lit. bound/attached woman)

पञ्चमेin/at the fifth (i.e., on the fifth child)

भवेत्would become; should become

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts that dharma-śāstra places limits on procreation and that even in hardship (āpatsu) one should not transgress prescribed boundaries; exceeding them is framed as a moral and social lapse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, cites a normative śāstric rule: seeking offspring beyond the allowed number is censured, with escalating labels (‘svairiṇī’, then ‘bandhakī’) used to mark increasing transgression.