गुर्वर्थो ऽयं समारम्भो न हयैः कृत्यम् अस्ति मे ॥
यदि शक्यं महाराज क्रियतां मा विचार्यताम् ॥
अनपत्यो ऽसि राजर्षे पुत्रौ जनय पार्थिव ॥
पितॄन् पुत्रप्लवेन त्वम् आत्मानं चैव तारय ॥
न पुत्रफलभोक्ता हि राजर्षे पात्यते दिवः ॥
न याति नरकं घोरं यत्र गच्छन्त्य् अनात्मजाः ॥
एतच् चान्यच् च विविधं श्रुत्वा गालवभाषितम् ॥
उशीनरः प्रतिवचो ददौ तस्य नराधिपः ॥
श्रुतवान् अस्मि ते वाक्यं यथा वदसि गालव ॥
विधिस् तु बलवान् ब्रह्मन् प्रवणं हि मनो मम ॥
gurvartho 'yaṃ samārambho na hayaiḥ kṛtyam asti me ||
yadi śakyaṃ mahārāja kriyatāṃ mā vicāryatām ||
anapatyo 'si rājarṣe putrau janaya pārthiva ||
pitṝn putraplavena tvam ātmānaṃ caiva tāraya ||
na putraphalabhoktā hi rājarṣe pātyate divaḥ ||
na yāti narakaṃ ghoraṃ yatra gacchanty anātmajāḥ ||
etac cānyac ca vividhaṃ śrutvā gālavabhāṣitam ||
uśīnaraḥ prativaco dadau tasya narādhipaḥ ||
śrutavān asmi te vākyaṃ yathā vadasi gālava ||
vidhis tu balavān brahman pravaṇaṃ hi mano mama ||
"This undertaking is for the sake of my guru, and I myself have no need of horses. If it can be done, great king, let it be done without long deliberation. You are childless, O royal sage; beget sons, O earthly ruler, and carry across your forefathers and yourself upon the raft of sons. He who does not taste the fruit of sons, O royal sage, falls from heaven and goes to the dreadful hell to which the childless go." Having heard this and much else that Galava said, Aushinara, the ruler of men, gave him this reply: "I have heard your words, O Galava, and it is as you say. But fate is strong, O brahmin, and my mind is inclined toward it."
f0450435f4ac · published Jul 17, 2026, 5:35:25 AM UTC
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Galava states plainly that the horses are wanted not for personal gain but for a debt owed to his teacher. His argument about sons reveals the old Vedic logic of continuity: a son is not merely an heir but the means by which a man sustains his ancestors and himself through the ongoing duty of sacrifice and lineage.