राजोवाच
नावमंस्याम्य् अहं ब्रह्मन् कदा चिद् ब्राह्मणर्षभान् ॥
त्वन् निदेशे स्थितः शश्वत् पुजयिष्याम्य् अहं द्विजान् ॥
इक्ष्वाकूणां तु येनाहम् अनृणः स्यां द्विजोत्तम ॥
तत् त्वत्तः प्राप्तुम् इच्छामि वरं वेदविदां वर ॥
अपत्यायेप्सितां मह्यं महिषीं गन्तुम् अर्हसि ॥
शीलरूपगुणोपेताम् इक्ष्वाकुकुलवृद्धये ॥
rājovāca
nāvamaṃsyāmy ahaṃ brahman kadā cid brāhmaṇarṣabhān ||
tvan nideśe sthitaḥ śaśvat pujayiṣyāmy ahaṃ dvijān ||
ikṣvākūṇāṃ tu yenāham anṛṇaḥ syāṃ dvijottama ||
tat tvattaḥ prāptum icchāmi varaṃ vedavidāṃ vara ||
apatyāyepsitāṃ mahyaṃ mahiṣīṃ gantum arhasi ||
śīlarūpaguṇopetām ikṣvākukulavṛddhaye ||
"I shall never, O brahmin, disregard the bulls among brahmins; abiding always by your command, I shall honor the twice-born. But the boon by which I might become free of my debt to the line of Ikshvaku, I wish to obtain from you, O best of the knowers of the Veda: for the sake of offspring, may you deign to go in unto the queen dear to me, endowed with good character, beauty, and virtues, for the increase of the line of Ikshvaku."
18af4ab263d2 · 发布于 2026年7月12日 17:29:43 UTC
可用语言RUEN用方向键翻颂
Here the king is concerned with the continuation of his line as a sacred duty. It is telling that he calls this "freedom from the debt to Ikshvaku": childlessness seems to him an unpaid debt to his ancestors, and he seeks an heir for the sake of the line's continuity, not for pleasure. The request for niyoga — that the saint Vasishtha beget him an heir — is the practice established, in that age, in extreme need, for continuing a dying line (as was told earlier of Vyasa); it is performed not out of lust but by the command of dharma. Here concern for the continuity of a worthy line is a duty, not a willful act. Thus the text reveals the ancient custom of continuing a royal line; and the king entrusts this to the saint, so that the heir may be worthy of his ancestors.