तस्मात् प्रहेष्याम्य् अद्य त्वां हीनः प्रजननात् स्वयम् ॥
सदृशाच् छ्रेयसो वा त्वं विद्ध्य् अपत्यं यशस्विनि ॥
शृणु कुन्ति कथां चेमां शारदण्डायनीं प्रति ॥
या वीरपत्नी गुरुभिर् नियुक्तापत्यजन्मनि ॥
पुष्पेण प्रयता स्नाता निशि कुन्ति चतुष्पथे ॥
वरयित्वा द्विजं सिद्धं हुत्वा पुंसवने ऽनलम् ॥
कर्मण्य् अवसिते तस्मिन् सा तेनैव सहावसत् ॥
तत्र त्रीञ् जनयाम् आस दुर्जयादीन् महारथान् ॥
तथा त्वम् अपि कल्याणि ब्राह्मणात् तपसाधिकात् ॥
मन्नियोगाद् यत क्षिप्रम् अपत्योत्पादनं प्रति ॥
tasmāt praheṣyāmy adya tvāṃ hīnaḥ prajananāt svayam ||
sadṛśāc chreyaso vā tvaṃ viddhy apatyaṃ yaśasvini ||
śṛṇu kunti kathāṃ cemāṃ śāradaṇḍāyanīṃ prati ||
yā vīrapatnī gurubhir niyuktāpatyajanmani ||
puṣpeṇa prayatā snātā niśi kunti catuṣpathe ||
varayitvā dvijaṃ siddhaṃ hutvā puṃsavane 'nalam ||
karmaṇy avasite tasmin sā tenaiva sahāvasat ||
tatra trīñ janayām āsa durjayādīn mahārathān ||
tathā tvam api kalyāṇi brāhmaṇāt tapasādhikāt ||
manniyogād yata kṣipram apatyotpādanaṃ prati ||
"Therefore now I shall send you forth, myself lacking the power of procreation; obtain offspring from a husband equal or superior to me, O illustrious one. And listen, O Kunti, to this story about Sharadandayani, who, the wife of a hero, was appointed by her elders to bear offspring: purified after the passing of her menses, having bathed, at night, at a crossroads, having chosen an accomplished brahmin and made an offering into the fire in the pumsavana rite, when that rite was completed she came together with him and bore three maharathas headed by Durjaya. So you too, O gracious one, from a brahmin surpassing in austerity, at my bidding, hasten quickly toward obtaining offspring."
b4e61051a60d · publicado 12 jul 2026, 16:41:49 UTC
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Here Pandu directly asks Kunti to resort to niyoga, citing the example of Sharadandayani. Notable is the condition: offspring must be obtained "from a husband equal or superior" and necessarily from a worthy brahmin "surpassing in austerity," with fitting rites (pumsavana, an offering into the fire) — that is, strictly within the bounds of dharma, not by caprice. Here we see that niyoga, permitted in that age, was surrounded by purity, ritual, and consent, so that the conception would be sacred and not licentious. Notable is "at my bidding" (man-niyogāt): the wife resorts to niyoga not of her own will but by the word and consent of her husband — this is not infidelity but the fulfillment of his charge for the sake of the lineage. Thus scripture presents niyoga as a strictly ordered, consecrated institution of the past; and the reader, recalling Kunti's secret (Durvasa's boon to summon the gods), already senses that the Pandavas will be born not of an earthly brahmin, but of the gods themselves — by a path still purer and more wondrous, as the following chapters will tell.