यज्ञैश् च देवान् प्रीणाति स्वाध्यायतपसा मुनीन् ॥
पुत्रैः श्राद्धैः पितॄंश् चापि आनृशंस्येन मानवान् ॥
ऋषिदेवमनुष्याणां परिमुक्तो ऽस्मि धर्मतः ॥
पित्र्याद् ऋणाद् अनिर्मुक्तस् तेन तप्ये तपोधनाः ॥
देहनाशे ध्रुवो नाशः पितॄणाम् एष निश्चयः ॥
इह तस्मात् प्रजाहेतोः प्रजायन्ते नरोत्तमाः ॥
यथैवाहं पितुः क्षेत्रे सृष्टस् तेन महात्मना ॥
तथैवास्मिन् मम क्षेत्रे कथं वै संभवेत् प्रजा ॥
yajñaiś ca devān prīṇāti svādhyāyatapasā munīn ||
putraiḥ śrāddhaiḥ pitṝṃś cāpi ānṛśaṃsyena mānavān ||
ṛṣidevamanuṣyāṇāṃ parimukto 'smi dharmataḥ ||
pitryād ṛṇād anirmuktas tena tapye tapodhanāḥ ||
dehanāśe dhruvo nāśaḥ pitṝṇām eṣa niścayaḥ ||
iha tasmāt prajāhetoḥ prajāyante narottamāḥ ||
yathaivāhaṃ pituḥ kṣetre sṛṣṭas tena mahātmanā ||
tathaivāsmin mama kṣetre kathaṃ vai saṃbhavet prajā ||
"With sacrifices he pleases the gods, with study of the Vedas and austerity, the sages; with sons and shraddha rites, the ancestors; and with kindness, men. From the debt to the sages, gods, and men I am, by dharma, released, but from the debt to the ancestors I am not released — therefore I am tormented, O men of austerity. With the destruction of the body comes certain destruction of the ancestors; such is their verdict; therefore, here, for the sake of offspring, the best of men beget children. Just as I myself was begotten on my father's "field" by that great soul, Vyasa, so too on this "field" of mine — how, indeed, will offspring arise?"
49aec35f7aff · प्रकाशित 12 जुल॰ 2026, 4:41:49 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here Pandu brings his thought to the heart of his trouble: he has discharged three debts, but not the fourth — to the ancestors, which is paid through offspring and the memorial rites (shraddha). Telling is the notion that without offspring "the ancestors face destruction": by Vedic teaching, a son sustains departed ancestors through offerings, and the cutting-off of a line breaks this bond. This is true within the bounds of varnashrama; but there is something higher still: the best gift to the ancestors is not the rite alone but a righteous descendant devoted to the Lord, and above all, one's own liberation — for the liberated soul raises the ancestors along with himself. It is telling that Pandu recalls his own birth through niyoga (by Vyasa, upon his father's "field") — with this he prepares and justifies what he is about to ask of Kunti. Thus the scripture, through Pandu's own words, links the teaching on the debt to the ancestors with the precedent of niyoga already present in this very lineage.