सा ह एनम् उवाच न अहम् एतत् वेद तात यद्गोत्रः त्वम् असि बहु अहम् चरन्ती परिचारिणी यौवने त्वाम् अलभे सा अहम् एतत् न वेद यद्गोत्रः त्वम् असि जबाला तु नाम अहम् अस्मि सत्यकामः नाम त्वम् असि सः सत्यकामः एव जाबालः ब्रुवीथाः इति
sā ha enam uvāca na aham etat veda tāta yadgotraḥ tvam asi bahu aham carantī paricāriṇī yauvane tvām alabhe sā aham etat na veda yadgotraḥ tvam asi jabālā tu nāma aham asmi satyakāmaḥ nāma tvam asi saḥ satyakāmaḥ eva jābālaḥ bruvīthāḥ iti
She said to him: "I do not know, my child, of what family you are. In my youth, when I went about a great deal as a serving-woman, I got you; and I do not know of what family you are. But my name is Jabālā, and your name is Satyakāma. So call yourself Satyakāma Jābāla."
1557ff20461a · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:16:32 PM UTC
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Jabālā's answer is one of the noblest passages in world literature: nāham etad veda tāta yad-gotras tvam asi — "I do not know, my child, of what family you are": bahv ahaṁ carantī paricāriṇī yauvane tvām alabhe — "in my youth, going about much as a serving-woman, I got you": a mother tells her son a truth that may cost him his future — without embellishment, without a saving fiction, but without a shadow of shame either: I got you, that is the fact; I do not know the family, that is the honesty.
And then a decision of fearless simplicity: jabālā tu nāmāham asmi satyakāmo nāma tvam asi — "I am Jabālā, you are Satyakāma: call yourself, then, Satyakāma Jābāla": a son without a lineage is given a name after his mother! — a thing unheard of in a patriarchal world: and this maternal name the boy will carry like a banner. Mark his own name too: Satya-kāma, "Desirous of truth": a mother who did not know his gotra knew enough to name her son Truth-lover — and the truth inherited from her will presently open a door that no gotra would have opened.