The Daughter's Plea and the Little Boy's Promise

Verse 1 (1.173.1)

तयोर्दुःखितयोर्वाक्यमतिमात्रं निशम्य तु । ततो दुःखपरीताङ्गी कन्या तावभ्यभाषत ॥

tayorduḥkhitayorvākyamatimātraṃ niśamya tu | tato duḥkhaparītāṅgī kanyā tāvabhyabhāṣata

Hearing the words of her two sorrowing parents, grieving beyond measure, the daughter, her whole body overcome with sorrow, then spoke to them both.

Verse 2 (1.173.2)

किमेवं भृशदुःखार्तौ रोरूयेतामनाथवत् । ममापि श्रूयतां वाक्यं श्रुत्वा च क्रियतां क्षमम् ॥

kimevaṃ bhṛśaduḥkhārtau rorūyetāmanāthavat | mamāpi śrūyatāṃ vākyaṃ śrutvā ca kriyatāṃ kṣamam

Why do you two, so stricken with grief, wail like this as though you had no one to protect you? Hear what I have to say as well, and when you have heard it, do what is fitting.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter: her words to her parents, announced in verse 1, run to verse 20 (Wikisource prints no heading; its next वैशंपायन उवाच stands before verse 21).

Verse 3 (1.173.3)

धर्मतोऽहं परित्याज्या युवयोर्नात्र संशयः । त्यक्तव्यां मां परित्यज्य त्राहि सर्वं मयैकया ॥

dharmato'haṃ parityājyā yuvayornātra saṃśayaḥ | tyaktavyāṃ māṃ parityajya trāhi sarvaṃ mayaikayā

By dharma I am the one you two must give up; of this there is no doubt. Give me up, who am to be given up, and save everything through me alone.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 4 (1.173.4)

इत्यर्थमिष्यतेऽपत्यं तारयिष्यति मामिति । अस्मिन्नुपस्थिते काले तरध्वं प्लववन्मया ॥

ityarthamiṣyate'patyaṃ tārayiṣyati māmiti | asminnupasthite kāle taradhvaṃ plavavanmayā

Children are wanted for this very purpose: 'It will carry me across.' Now that the hour has come, cross over by means of me, as by a boat.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 5 (1.173.5)

इह वा तारयेद्दुर्गादुत वा प्रेत्य भारत । सर्वथा तारयेत्पुत्रः पुत्र इत्युच्यते बुधैः ॥

iha vā tārayeddurgāduta vā pretya bhārata | sarvathā tārayetputraḥ putra ityucyate budhaiḥ

Whether here, out of hardship, or in the hereafter, O Bharata, a child should carry its parents across in every way; that is why the wise call it putra, 'the one who rescues'.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 6 (1.173.6)

आकाङ्क्षन्ते च दौहित्रान्मयि नित्यं पितामहाः । तत्स्वयं वै परित्रास्ये रक्षन्ती जीवितं पितुः ॥

ākāṅkṣante ca dauhitrānmayi nityaṃ pitāmahāḥ | tatsvayaṃ vai paritrāsye rakṣantī jīvitaṃ pituḥ

The forefathers always look to me for grandsons through a daughter; so I myself will rescue them by saving my father's life.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 7 (1.173.7)

भ्राता च मम बालोऽयं गते लोकममुं त्वयि । अचिरेणैव कालेन विनश्येत न संशयः ॥

bhrātā ca mama bālo'yaṃ gate lokamamuṃ tvayi | acireṇaiva kālena vinaśyeta na saṃśayaḥ

And this little brother of mine, once you have gone to the other world, would perish before long; there is no doubt of it.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 8 (1.173.8)

तातेऽपि हि गते स्वर्गं विनष्टे च ममानुजे । पिण्डः पितॄणां व्युच्छिद्येत्तत्तेषां विप्रियं भवेत् ॥

tāte'pi hi gate svargaṃ vinaṣṭe ca mamānuje | piṇḍaḥ pitṝṇāṃ vyucchidyettatteṣāṃ vipriyaṃ bhavet

If my father has gone to heaven and my younger brother has perished, the offering of rice-balls to the forefathers would be cut off, and that would grieve them.

Note on the text: Corrected तातेपि → तातेऽपि (misprint in Wikisource; missing avagraha in ताते + अपि, as in the critical edition, tāte 'pi). Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 9 (1.173.9)

पित्रा त्यक्ता तथा मात्रा भ्रात्रा चाहमसंशयम् । दुःखाद्दुःखतरं प्राप्य म्रियेयमतथोचिता ॥

pitrā tyaktā tathā mātrā bhrātrā cāhamasaṃśayam | duḥkhādduḥkhataraṃ prāpya mriyeyamatathocitā

Abandoned by father, mother and brother alike, I would surely pass from sorrow to deeper sorrow and die, though I have not deserved it.

Note on the text: Corrected म्रियेयमतथोचिताम् → म्रियेयमतथोचिता (misprint in Wikisource; the adjective describes the speaker and must be nominative — the critical edition reads atathocitā). Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 10 (1.173.10)

त्वयि त्वरोगे निर्मुक्ते माता भ्राता च मे शिशुः । सन्तानश्चैव पिण्डश्च प्रतिष्ठास्यत्यसंशयम् ॥

tvayi tvaroge nirmukte mātā bhrātā ca me śiśuḥ | santānaścaiva piṇḍaśca pratiṣṭhāsyatyasaṃśayam

But if you are set free and remain unharmed, my mother and my infant brother, our line and the ancestral offering will all surely endure.

Note on the text: Corrected निर्मुक्तो → निर्मुक्ते (misprint in Wikisource; the locative goes with त्वयि त्वरोगे, as in verse 17 and the critical edition, nirmukte). Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 11 (1.173.11)

आत्मा पुत्रः सखी भार्या कृच्छ्रं तु दुहिता किल । स कृच्छ्रान्मोचयात्मानं मां च धर्मे नियोजय ॥

ātmā putraḥ sakhī bhāryā kṛcchraṃ tu duhitā kila | sa kṛcchrānmocayātmānaṃ māṃ ca dharme niyojaya

A son is one's own self, a wife a friend, but a daughter, they say, is a burden. So free yourself from this burden, and set me to my duty.

Note on the text: Corrected नियोजया → नियोजय (misprint in Wikisource; a stray ा on the imperative). Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 12 (1.173.12)

अनाथा कृपणा बाला यत्र क्वचन गामिनी । भविष्यामि त्वया तात विहीना कृपणा सदा ॥

anāthā kṛpaṇā bālā yatra kvacana gāminī | bhaviṣyāmi tvayā tāta vihīnā kṛpaṇā sadā

Without you, father, I shall be a helpless, wretched girl, wandering wherever I may, forever pitiable.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 13 (1.173.13)

अथवाहं करिष्यामि कुलस्यास्य विमोचनम् । फलसंस्था भविष्यामि कृत्वा कर्म सुदुष्करम् ॥

athavāhaṃ kariṣyāmi kulasyāsya vimocanam | phalasaṃsthā bhaviṣyāmi kṛtvā karma suduṣkaram

Or else I will bring about the deliverance of this family, and win the fruit of it by doing a deed most hard to do.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 14 (1.173.14)

अथवा यास्यसे तत्र त्यक्त्वा मां द्विजसत्तम । पीडिताऽहं भविष्यामि तदवेक्षस्व मामपि ॥

athavā yāsyase tatra tyaktvā māṃ dvijasattama | pīḍitā'haṃ bhaviṣyāmi tadavekṣasva māmapi

But if you leave me and go there yourself, best of the twice-born, I shall be in torment; so think of me too.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 15 (1.173.15)

तदस्मदर्थं धर्मार्थं प्रसवार्थं च सत्तम । आत्मानं परिरक्षस्व त्यक्तव्यां मां च संत्यज ॥

tadasmadarthaṃ dharmārthaṃ prasavārthaṃ ca sattama | ātmānaṃ parirakṣasva tyaktavyāṃ māṃ ca saṃtyaja

So for our sake, for the sake of dharma and for the sake of our line, good father, protect yourself, and give me up, who am to be given up.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 16 (1.173.16)

अवश्यकरणीये च मा त्वां कालोऽत्यगादयम् । किं त्वतः परमं दुःखं यद्वयं स्वर्गते त्वयि ॥

avaśyakaraṇīye ca mā tvāṃ kālo'tyagādayam | kiṃ tvataḥ paramaṃ duḥkhaṃ yadvayaṃ svargate tvayi

Do not let this moment slip by when the thing must be done. For what sorrow could be greater than this, that when you have gone to heaven we

Note on the text: Corrected कालोत्यगादयम् → कालोऽत्यगादयम् (misprint in Wikisource; missing avagraha, as in the critical edition, kālo 'tyagād). = CE 1.147.16ab + 17ab, aligned by hand (Wikisource reads च for 'rthe). Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 17 (1.173.17)

याचमानाः परादन्नं परिधावेमहि श्ववत् । त्वयि त्वरोगे निर्मुक्ते क्लेशादस्मात्सबान्धवे । अमृतेव सती लोके भविष्यामि सुखान्विता ॥

yācamānāḥ parādannaṃ paridhāvemahi śvavat | tvayi tvaroge nirmukte kleśādasmātsabāndhave | amṛteva satī loke bhaviṣyāmi sukhānvitā

should run about like dogs, begging food from others? But if you and our kin are freed from this distress and you remain unharmed, I shall live on in the world as one who has not died, and be at peace.

Note on the text: = CE 1.147.17cd + 18, aligned by hand (the critical edition reads amṛte vasatī for अमृतेव सती). Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 18 (1.173.18)

इतः प्रदाने देवाश्च पितरश्चेति नः श्रुतम् । त्वया दत्तेन तोयेन भविष्यति हिताय वै ॥

itaḥ pradāne devāśca pitaraśceti naḥ śrutam | tvayā dattena toyena bhaviṣyati hitāya vai

We have heard that the gods and the forefathers take no pleasure in a gift such as this; even so, with the water you offer for me, it will turn to good.

Note on the text: The first line is not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension; CE apparatus 1.147.18*1623); the second is a variant of CE 1.147.16cd. Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 19 (1.173.19)

इत्येतदुभयं तात निशाम्य तव यद्धितम् । तद्व्यवस्य तथाम्बाया हितं स्वस्य सुतस्य च ॥

ityetadubhayaṃ tāta niśāmya tava yaddhitam | tadvyavasya tathāmbāyā hitaṃ svasya sutasya ca

Weigh both these things, father, and decide what is best for you, and likewise what is best for my mother and for your son.

Note on the text: Removed a stray backtick. Not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension; CE apparatus 1.147.18*1624). Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 20 (1.173.20)

मातापित्रोश्च पुत्रास्तु भवितारो गुणान्विताः । न तु पुत्रस्य पितरौ पुनर्जातु भविष्यतः ॥

mātāpitrośca putrāstu bhavitāro guṇānvitāḥ | na tu putrasya pitarau punarjātu bhaviṣyataḥ

Parents may have sons again, sons endowed with virtues; but a son can never have his parents again.

Note on the text: Corrected पितरो → पितरौ (misprint in Wikisource; the dual is required by भविष्यतः, as in the critical edition's apparatus, pitarau). Removed stray wiki marks (doubled danda and quote mark). Not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension; CE apparatus 1.147.18*1624). Speaker set to the daughter (her words continue).

Verse 21 (1.173.21)

एवं बहुविधं तस्या निशम्य परिदेवितम् । पिता माता च सा चैव कन्या प्ररुरुदुस्त्रयः ॥

evaṃ bahuvidhaṃ tasyā niśamya paridevitam | pitā mātā ca sā caiva kanyā prarurudustrayaḥ

Hearing her lament in so many ways, the father, the mother and the girl herself, all three, broke into tears.

Verse 22 (1.173.22)

ततः प्ररुदितान्सर्वान्निशम्याथ सुतस्तदा । उत्फुल्लनयनो बालः कलमव्यक्तमब्रवीत् ॥

tataḥ praruditānsarvānniśamyātha sutastadā | utphullanayano bālaḥ kalamavyaktamabravīt

Then, hearing them all weeping, the little son, his eyes wide open, spoke sweetly and indistinctly.

Verse 23 (1.173.23)

मा पिता रुद मा मातर्मा स्वसस्त्विति चाब्रवीत् । प्रहसन्निव सर्वांस्तानेकैकमनुसर्पति ॥

mā pitā ruda mā mātarmā svasastviti cābravīt | prahasanniva sarvāṃstānekaikamanusarpati

'Don't cry, father; don't cry, mother; don't cry, sister,' he said, and, as though smiling, he went up to each of them in turn.

Note on the text: A variant of CE 1.147.21 (which reads mā rodīs tāta …), aligned by hand.

Verse 24 (1.173.24)

ततः स तृणमादाय प्रहृष्टः पुनरब्रवीत् । अनेनाहं हनिष्यामि राक्षसं पुरुषादकम् ॥

tataḥ sa tṛṇamādāya prahṛṣṭaḥ punarabravīt | anenāhaṃ haniṣyāmi rākṣasaṃ puruṣādakam

Then he picked up a blade of grass and said again in delight, 'With this I will kill the man-eating rakshasa!'

Verse 25 (1.173.25)

तथापि तेषां दुःखेन परीतानां निशम्य तत् । बालस्य वाक्यमव्यक्तं हर्षः समभवन्महान् ॥

tathāpi teṣāṃ duḥkhena parītānāṃ niśamya tat | bālasya vākyamavyaktaṃ harṣaḥ samabhavanmahān

Though they were overwhelmed with sorrow, when they heard the child's babbled words a great joy rose in them.

Verse 26 (1.173.26)

अयं काल इति ज्ञात्वा कुन्ती समुपसृत्य तान् । गतासूनमृतेनेव जीवयन्तीदमब्रवीत् ॥

ayaṃ kāla iti jñātvā kuntī samupasṛtya tān | gatāsūnamṛteneva jīvayantīdamabravīt

Knowing that this was the moment, Kunti came up to them and spoke these words, reviving them as nectar revives the dead.