Shloka 12

Śakuntalā-Janma-Nāmakaraṇa (Birth and Naming of Śakuntalā) | शकुन्तला-जन्म-नामकरणम्

Devanagari script

ता: सर्वास्त्वनवद्याड्य: कन्या: कमललोचना: । पुत्रिका: स्थापयामास नष्ट पुत्र: प्रजापति:,वे सभी कन्याएँ परम सुन्दर अंगोंवाली तथा विकसित कमलके सदृश विशाल लोचनोंसे सुशोभित थीं। प्रजापति दक्षके पुत्र जब नष्ट हो गये, तब उन्होंने अपनी उन कन्याओंको पुत्रिका बनाकर रखा (और उनका विवाह पुत्रिकाधर्मके अनुसार ही किया)

Transliteration

tāḥ sarvāstv anavadyāḍyāḥ kanyāḥ kamalalocanāḥ | putrikāḥ sthāpayāmāsa naṣṭa-putraḥ prajāpatiḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说：那些少女无不完美无瑕，福德具足，双眸广大妍丽，如盛放之莲。及至生主达叉之诸子失落无存，他便立诸女为“布特利迦”(putrikā)，以女代子为嗣，并依“布特利迦之法”(putrikā-dharma)为她们缔结婚盟，使族脉与祭仪之相续得以保存。

Word by Word

ताःthose (women)

सर्वाःall

तुbut/indeed

अनवद्याड्याःblameless and richly endowed

कन्याःmaidens/daughters

कमललोचनाःhaving lotus-like eyes

पुत्रिकाःas 'putrikā' daughters (appointed as son-substitutes)

स्थापयामासhe established/appointed

नष्टपुत्रःwhose sons were lost

प्रजापतिःPrajāpati (Dakṣa)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Prajāpati (Dakṣa)

the daughters (kanyāḥ/putrikāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a dharmic mechanism for preserving lineage and ritual obligations when sons are absent: appointing a daughter as putrikā so that family continuity (including ancestral rites and succession) is maintained within accepted social-legal norms.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes Dakṣa’s daughters as exceptionally beautiful and virtuous, then explains that after the loss of his sons, Dakṣa designated these daughters as putrikās and arranged their marriages under that special rule so the progenitor’s line would continue.