OS on short stories contained in Mahabharat

Hello Everyone,

Mahabharat is the greatest epic of Vedic Literature. While reading the translated version, I found that within the main narrative, we are introduced to many great sages and everyone of them imparts their valuable wisdom to the Pandavas or Kauravas or to the other characters of the main narrative in the form of short stories. And all those short stories are just amazing to read. 

So I am starting this new topic, where anyone can discuss about any of such stories and other folklores or short stories based on Mahabharat or Ramayan or any other epic as you wish. I hope you all to be participative. You can share any story you want, no matter how short it is. 

Here I am taking the initiative:

Story of Nahusha

The story refers to the time when Rishi Dadhichi had sacrificed his body so that a special weapon can be made out of his bones, which can help in slaying Vritrasura. Vritrasura had the boon that no weapon, known till then would kill him. He could not be killed by any metal or woood or anything wet or dry. Therefore, a new weapon was made out of Rishi Dadhichi's bones . This weapon later came to be known as the famous Vajra of Lord Indra.

On Lord Indra's request, Rishi Dadhichi had sacrificed himself, so in one way Lord Indra found himself to be the cause of Rishi Dadhichi's death. Hence, abandoning his kingdom, he went away to perform penance for his sin. 

Since it was not appropriate to leave the throne of Heaven idle, others started looking for a person, who could act as proxy ruler. Then someone suggested about the great king of Lunar Dynasty Nahusha. Nahusha was the son-in-law of Lord Shiva as he got married to Devi Ashok Sundari, daughter of Mata Parvati and Shiva. So when the Gods reached Nahusha with the proposal, Nahusha immediately accepted the offer and then he came to Heaven.

The things went quite smoothly for sometime, then as time passed, Nahusha's pride started increasing. One day, he went to Devi Shachi, the wife of Lord Indra, and breaking all the limits of decency, asked her to marry him and accept him as her husband. Devi Shachi at first politely refused. But when Nahusha kept stalking her and disturbing and harassing her, she went to Devguru Brihaspati, to ask for a remedy to her problem. 

Devguru Brihaspati advised her, that until and unless Nahusha is dethroned from Indrasen, there was no remedy to her problem. So they should device a plan so that Nahusha would appear to be in fault, then only he can be dethroned.

So next day, as per Devguru Brihaspati's plan, when Nahusha again came to ask to Devi Shachi to marry him, Devi Shachi agreed to marry Nahusha, but on the condition that Nahusha should come to her in a palanquin which shall be carried by all greatest sages, ever born on earth.

Nahusha, blinded by his pride, accepted Devi Shachi's condition. Very soon he convinced all the sages to carry his palanquin. On the fixed day, Nahusha, mounting on his palanquin, started off with his journey to Devi Shachi's palace. Nahusha was so eager to meet Devi Shachi, that time and again, he kept on telling off the sages to increase their pace. The sages had grown old, so they could not walk faster. Frustrated with this, Nahusha, arrogantly gave a hard kick to one of the sages. 

That sage was none other that Rishi Agastya, son of one of the Saptarishi Pulastya. Rishi Agastya was extremely enraged. He got up and roaringly said to Nahusha, "YOU ARROGANT FOOL! How dare you kick me. You are neither fit to rule this Heaven nor you are fit to rule anywhere for you lack humility. So, I curse you, that from this moment, you will lose your human form, and shall live on Earth as a Giant Serpent until you learn humility." 

Nahusha got extremely scared. He immediately fell at the sages feet and kept asking for forgiveness. The angry sage, softened a bit, and said that some day, his descendent, Samrat Yudhishthira would come to him and would answer his questions and teach him humility. Then he shall be free from his curse.

Eons later, during the Pandava's exile, one day a huge serpent caught Bheem in its clutches to feed on him. Noticing Bheem's absence for a long, Yudhishthira reached there and as predicted by Rishi Agastya, he answered all the questions of that serpent, who was Nahusha. Despite knowing all the answers to the questions of Nahusha, Yudhishthira did not have even a slight hint of arrogance in his tone. Nahusha, realized what Rishi Agastya had wanted to teach him. And the precise moment, his serpent form dissolved and he got back his human form. Thus blessing the Pandavas for their victory, he went back to heaven. 

~~~~*****~~~~

Hope you like the story. Here I have tagged just a few members whom I have communicated on this forum, to encourage you all to participate.

This is a fun topic! Thanks for starting it.

The story of Dadhīca giving up his body so that it could be used to fashion vajra to kill Vṛtra is found in Āraṇyakaparvan chapter 98. In chapter 99, Indra flees to hide in a lake not out of guilt over Dadhīca but because he is terrified of Vṛtra, so terrified that he does not remember throwing vajra and killing Vṛtra.

tasmin hate Daitya-vare bhay'ārtaḥ

Śakraḥ pradudrāva saraḥ praveṣṭum

vajraṃ na mene svakarāt pramuktaṃ

Vṛtraṃ hataṃ c'āpi bhayān na mene

(Āraṇyakaparvan 99.15)

Aptly, this verse is in the metre called Indravajrā. The link to learn more about this poetic metre will work if you join the Saṃskṛta Text Discussion forum through the link in my signature.

In the story of Nahuṣa taking Indra's position in Udyogaparvan, there is no mention of Dadhīca. Rather, Indra's guilt is for anṛta - deceit. He had plotted to slay Vṛtra after swearing friendship with him. Indra's sin of brahmahatyā for slaying Triśiras also catches up with him.

In Udyogaparvan chapter 9, Indra uses his vajra to slay Triśiras, but in chapter 10, Indra uses foam - neither wet nor dry - to slay Vṛtra at twilight - neither day nor night. Vṛtra has demanded that he cannot be killed by anything wet, dry, stone, wood, weapon, or vajra, by day or by night.

na śuṣkeṇa na c'ārdreṇa n'āśmanā na ca dāruṇā

na śastreṇa na vajreṇa na divā na tathā niśi

vadhyo bhaveyaṃ vipr'endrāḥ Śakrasya saha daivataiḥ

(Udyogaparvan 10.29-30)

There is a contradiction between the Udyogaparvan myth, wherein Tvaṣṭṛ is the mastermind who produces Triśiras and Vṛtra to overpower Indra, and the Āraṇyakaparvan myth, wherein it is Tvaṣṭṛ who fashions Dadhīca's bones into vajra so that Indra can slay Vṛtra.

Nahuṣa's marriage to Aśokasundarī is a story in Padmapurāṇa. I haven't seen it copied into Mahābhārata, where the name of Nahuṣa's wife is either Priyavāsas (Ādiparvan 70.28) or Virajas (Harivaṃśa 13.60). Nahuṣa hesitates to accept the offer to replace Indra because he feels powerless; therefore, he is granted the power to subdue anyone whom he can see.

It's interesting that Nahuṣa's brother Raji also took the position of Indra (Harivaṃśa chapter 21).

Where did you get the idea that Agastya was the son of Pulastya? Agastya is repeatedly called Vāruṇi and MaitrāVaruṇi (Āraṇyakaparvan 101.12-13, 102.13 102.16, 103.1, 103.3) because he is the son of Varuṇa or of Mitra-and-Varuṇa, born of a pot. However, in Āraṇyakaparvan 94.11-15, Agastya converses with his ancestors who are dangling in a pit, and these ancestors are redeemed at Āraṇyakaparvan 97.25, after Agastya's son is born.

Originally posted by: BrhannadaArmour

This is a fun topic! Thanks for starting it.

The story of Dadhīca giving up his body so that it could be used to fashion vajra to kill Vṛtra is found in Āraṇyakaparvan chapter 98. In chapter 99, Indra flees to hide in a lake not out of guilt over Dadhīca but because he is terrified of Vṛtra, so terrified that he does not remember throwing vajra and killing Vṛtra.

tasmin hate Daitya-vare bhay'ārtaḥ

Śakraḥ pradudrāva saraḥ praveṣṭum

vajraṃ na mene svakarāt pramuktaṃ

Vṛtraṃ hataṃ c'āpi bhayān na mene

(Āraṇyakaparvan 99.15)

Aptly, this verse is in the metre called Indravajrā. The link to learn more about this poetic metre will work if you join the Saṃskṛta Text Discussion forum through the link in my signature.

In the story of Nahuṣa taking Indra's position in Udyogaparvan, there is no mention of Dadhīca. Rather, Indra's guilt is for anṛta - deceit. He had plotted to slay Vṛtra after swearing friendship with him. Indra's sin of brahmahatyā for slaying Triśiras also catches up with him.

In Udyogaparvan chapter 9, Indra uses his vajra to slay Triśiras, but in chapter 10, Indra uses foam - neither wet nor dry - to slay Vṛtra at twilight - neither day nor night. Vṛtra has demanded that he cannot be killed by anything wet, dry, stone, wood, weapon, or vajra, by day or by night.

na śuṣkeṇa na c'ārdreṇa n'āśmanā na ca dāruṇā

na śastreṇa na vajreṇa na divā na tathā niśi

vadhyo bhaveyaṃ vipr'endrāḥ Śakrasya saha daivataiḥ

(Udyogaparvan 10.29-30)

There is a contradiction between the Udyogaparvan myth, wherein Tvaṣṭṛ is the mastermind who produces Triśiras and Vṛtra to overpower Indra, and the Āraṇyakaparvan myth, wherein it is Tvaṣṭṛ who fashions Dadhīca's bones into vajra so that Indra can slay Vṛtra.

Nahuṣa's marriage to Aśokasundarī is a story in Padmapurāṇa. I haven't seen it copied into Mahābhārata, where the name of Nahuṣa's wife is either Priyavāsas (Ādiparvan 70.28) or Virajas (Harivaṃśa 13.60). Nahuṣa hesitates to accept the offer to replace Indra because he feels powerless; therefore, he is granted the power to subdue anyone whom he can see.

It's interesting that Nahuṣa's brother Raji also took the position of Indra (Harivaṃśa chapter 21).

Where did you get the idea that Agastya was the son of Pulastya? Agastya is repeatedly called Vāruṇi and MaitrāVaruṇi (Āraṇyakaparvan 101.12-13, 102.13 102.16, 103.1, 103.3) because he is the son of Varuṇa or of Mitra-and-Varuṇa, born of a pot. However, in Āraṇyakaparvan 94.11-15, Agastya converses with his ancestors who are dangling in a pit, and these ancestors are redeemed at Āraṇyakaparvan 97.25, after Agastya's son is born.

Thank you for sharing your insights to the story. There is controversy as to who were the parents of Rishi Agastya. As you said, in Aranyakaparvan, he has been referred to as the son of Varuna. However in Shrimad Bhagvatam in SB 4.1.36, Sage Agastya had been referred to as the son of Saptarishi Pulastya

pulastyo 'janayat patnyām

agastyaṁ ca havirbhuvi

so 'nya-janmani dahrāgnir

viśravāś ca mahā-tapāḥ

So there could be possible that there were two sages with the name, hence this confusion. The period to which this story belongs is long ago. So, expecting different details in different books is quite expected.

The story of Nahusha's marriage to Ashok Sundari, has not been mentioned in Mahabaharat. The fact was drawn in the narrative to make the readers connect the dots. And at that, time generally had multiple wives as nuptial knots were considered strongest to secure against hostility from neighboring kingdoms. The names of the wives of Nahusha's wives you mentioned may be his other queens.

Expecting to listen more stories from you from the puranas which, unfortunately we are almost forgetting and for that, to our westernization.

I just published a retelling of the Ṛśyaśṛṅga story with a twist: he recognizes the veśyā visitor as a woman, but the transgender veśyā identifies as male ...

https://www.indiaforums.com/fanfiction/3738

While writing this story, I reread two old Ṛśyaśṛṅga stories: the original Saṃskṛta text from Āraṇyakaparvan and the original Pālī text of Alambusā-jātaka.

This is a fun thread

The story of Shakuntala and Dushyant is discussed in MB. Its an important story, because it is their son by whom the heroes of Mahabharat will be known, the Bharatas. Kalidasa also wrote a very famous Play about this story. Lot of elements in modern day retelling of this story come from Kalidasa's Play.

Story of Shakuntala and Dushyant

Janamejeya asks Vaishampayana about origin in Kuru lineage and Vaishampayan states that Dushyant was founder of the Pourava lineage. Dushyanta is described as a Great, Young King who looked after his subjects well. 

Once he went for hunting with his party. Citizens and Residents followed him to the forest but he sent them away. He hunted in a forest and nearly emptied the forest of all the prey. Then he wants to go further to hunt more deer. He passes a wilderness, two Wooden forests, and then finally sees the beautiful hermitage by the Banks of river Malini. He leaves his retinue behind and just takes his Priest and advisor with him. He wants to meet Rishi Kanva, who was descendant of Kashyapa. He enter hermitage after removing all Kingly signs.HE even leaves behind his advisors and goes inside the hermitage alone. He sees that Kanva is not around and the Hermitage looked deserted. He calls out for someone, and a maiden comes out to greet him. This is Shakuntala, attired in simple, ascetic robes but still looking radiant.

Shakuntala honours him as a guest and then Dushyant tell her he came there to meet Rishi Kanva. Shaluntala tell him that her father had gone to collect fruits and will come back in some time. Dushyant then observes Shakuntala who is beautilful and radient. Duhsyant then asks her about herself and tells her that she has stolen his heart. Shakuntala tell  him that she is Rishi Kanva's daughter. Dushyant tells her that Rishi Kanva is known to be celibate due to his rigid, ascetic vows. So she cannot be his biological daughter.

Shakuntala proceeds to tell him story of her birth. She tells him she learnt this when her Father was telling this story to someone else.

Rishi Vishwamitra was doing rigorous austerities and Lord Indra was worried that this would endanger his seat in Heaven. So, Lord Indra calls Menaka to entice Rishi Vishwamitra and break his Tapasya. But Menaka is scared since Vishwamitra is very powerful. She tells Indra and tell him that despite her fear, she will go to Vishwamitra, as Indra has commanded her. She asks Indra to send Marut with her, so  that he can strip her of her garments and Kamdeva can help her.

Menaka reaches the hermitage and pays her homage to the Rishi. Then wind blows and her garments are stripped off. She tries to hold her garments but in vain. Vishwamitra is truck with desire and invites Menaka. Togethe they make love in the forest and Shakuntala is born out of this union. Menaka leaves the baby at the banks of Malini, which is frequented by lions and tigers. Rishi Kanva had come to the bank for his daily ablutions and sees the child surrounded by vultures protecting her. He takes the child with him and names her Shakuntala. 

Dushant proposes her fpr Gandharva forest but Shakuntala asks him to wait for her father. Dushant tells her that he is in love with her, and they should have Gandharva marriage. He explains to her that Gandharva marriage is fir for Kshatriya like him and they dont need permission from her father to go ahead. Shakuntala agrees with one condition, that the son born out of their union should be heir to the throne. He accepts the condition and proceeds to take her hand. When it is time for him to return, he tells her he will send an army to escort her to his capital. After takein her leave, he worries about the reaction of Rishi Kanva.

Rishi Kanva returns but Shakuntala is too ashamed to face him. Rishi Kanva has seen everything due to his divine sight and assures Shakuntala that she has done nothing wrong.Shakuntala accepts that she has chosen King Dushyanta as her husband and she asks to Rishi to Bless them. She ask him to bless that Puru Kings shall never be dethroned. Then Shakuntala gives birth to a son. The child thus born, has immense strength due to which he able to kill tigers or bound them. Seeing that he is able to subdue powerful animals, he residents of the hermitage start calling him Sarvadaman, the one who can subdue anyone.

Seeing the boy grow up , Rishi Kanva asks his disciples to  take Shakuntala and her son to the King's capital. On reaching there, Shakuntala  pays homage to the King and tells him about their son. She asks him to make her son the heir apparent to the throne. Dushyanta refuses to recognise her. Shakuntala gets very angry. She rightfully chastises him for not recognizing her and treating her a commoner. She tells him that having a wife is the greatest fortune a man could ask for. 

She recounts how she was abandoned by her birth mother, for no fault of hers. She wonders why her Mother abandoned her and now Dushyanta has also forsaken her. She tells him its ok if he does not accept her, she will go back to the hermitage. But he should accept his son.

Dushyanta proceeds to insult Shakuntala, Maneka and Vishwamitra. He refuses to acknowledge that the son is his. Then recounts that Menaka. is in one ofthen Thirty Gods. As her daughter Shakuntala can traverse the Skies where as Dushyanta can only walk on land. She as a human can go to the abodes of Indra, Kuber, YAma and Varuna. She tells him that after he is gone, her son will rule after him. She starts to leave when a voice heard from Sky is heard addressing Duhsyant. It tells Dushyant, who is surrounded by his officiating priests and advisors, to accept his son born from Shakuntala. The voice tells Dushyanta that he will maintain the son due to these words, the son will be known as Bharat. 

Addressing his advisors, Dushyant tells them that voice from the Sky has cleared that Bharat is his son, born from Shakuntala. He knew the truth but he also knew that people would be suspicious of Bharat's lineage. He wanted some way to prove to everyone that Bharat was his son. Thats why he spoke so harshly with Shakuntala.Dushyant then accepts Shakuntala as his Queen and instates Bharat as his heir apparent. 

Good choice of story!

Since I first absorbed the story according to Kālidāsa's play AbhijñānaŚākuntala, it shocked me to find out how unromantic it is in Mahābhārata. This is no pastoral romance with the jaded urban hero falling in love with the sheltered heroine's innocent simplicity. This is a story of opportunism, pretense, exploitation, hypocrisy, arguing both sides, slüt-shaming, and saving face.

Mahābhārata (Ādiparvan 64.31-38) tells us that Kaṇva's āśrama was abuzz with brāhmaṇas chanting Vedas and performing other rituals, just before Duḥṣanta saw that he had entered a vacant (śūnya) part of the āśrama and called out. If Duḥṣanta had sincere respect for Kaṇva, he would have gone out to wait among the brāhmaṇas and listened to their religious talk. Instead, Duḥṣanta seized his opportunity to flirt with Śakuntalā, telling her she was vara-varṇinī (excellent complexion) and addressing her as bhadre (fine), śubhe (pretty), kalyāṇi (pleasant), sundari (beautiful), rambh'oru (plantain-soft thighs), and repeatedly śuci-smite (clear smile), śobhane (lovely) and suśroṇi (nice buttocks).

Duḥṣanta asked Śakuntalā to be his wife, promising gold necklaces, fine clothes, earrings entirely of gold, bright gems and jewels fashioned in different cities that "I am bringing to you now" (āharāmi tav'ādy'āhaṃ), gold pendants etc., animal hides ... "let the whole kingdom be yours now" (sarvaṃ rājyaṃ tav'ādy'āstu), but be his wife and come to him by Gandharva-style marriage. As Kaṇva would soon explain to Śakuntalā (Ādiparvan 67.26), this so-called marriage was no more than secret consensual sex:

kṣatriyasya hi Gāndharvo vivāhaḥ śreṣṭha ucyate

sakāmāyāḥ sakāmena nirmantro rahasi smṛtaḥ

Only for a kṣatriya, Gandharva-style marriage is called best, acknowledged of a desirous woman with a desirous man, without mantras, in secret.

Growing up in a religious retreat, Śakuntalā might never have been cheated before. Maybe she sensed that Duḥṣanta's hurry to "marry" her was dangerous, since he wouldn't wait even a muhūrta (48 minutes) to ask Kaṇva, whom he claimed to want to meet. Maybe not. Regardless, Śakuntalā was willing to be secretly intimate with Duḥṣanta, knowing that she might have a baby from the experience. Why?

Whether Śakuntalā found Duḥṣanta physically attractive is left to the listener's/reader's imagination. If she was tempted by the expensive gifts that he offered, she never said a word about them, nor about his repeated promises to escort her to his city with a fourfold army of chariots, elephants, horses, and foot-soldiers, "as you ought to be" (yathā tvam arhā). Perhaps Śakuntalā was just curious about sex and aware that the rest of her life could pass by in the āśrama without another opportunity.

Śakuntalā only asked Duḥṣanta to promise her truthfully that if a son was born to her, he would become Duḥṣanta's immediate successor, his Yuvarāja. Should we infer that Śakuntalā was politically ambitious and sex with Duḥṣanta was her opportunity? Or, having been abandoned by her own parents, did Śakuntalā only want to ensure that a child born to her wouldn't be deprived of his place in society?

Śakuntalā's actions and words both support the latter interpretation. When Duḥṣanta left without meeting Kaṇva, when he never kept his promises to honour her, when he neglected his son, Śakuntalā didn't make her way to his city to demand her rights and turn the brāhmaṇas against him. She went on living austerely in the āśrama and raising her son by herself, until Kaṇva decided that Sarvadamana needed a royal upbringing. And when Duḥṣanta tried to drive Śakuntalā away, calling her duṣṭa-tāpasi (corrupt nun), she said that she could always go back to the āśrama, but he ought not to reject his own child (Ādiparvan 68.71):

kāmaṃ tvayā parityaktā gamiṣyāmy aham āśramam

imaṃ tu bālaṃ saṃtyaktuṃ n'ārhasy ātmajam ātmanā

I must include a few words in appreciation of Kaṇva for being an amazingly supportive father. Śakuntalā felt ashamed to face him, but Kaṇva, in spite of his own strict celibacy, was surprisingly liberal. Kaṇva condoned Śakuntalā "disrespecting my authority" (mām anādṛtya) and engaging in intimacy with a man (yat kṛtaḥ puṃsā saha samāyogaḥ) as natural for a woman of royal lineage (rāj'ānvayayā).

Duḥṣanta was worried about what Kaṇva would do if he came home and found Śakuntalā "married" to Duḥṣanta. Maybe Duḥṣanta hoped that Śakuntalā would keep quiet, and wouldn't become pregnant; otherwise, Kaṇva could have led the brāhmaṇas in condemnation of Duḥṣanta's deceit and demanded his abdication. However, Kaṇva never turned anyone against Duḥṣanta. Even to Śakuntalā, Kaṇva spoke of Duḥṣanta as dharm'ātmā - righteous-natured, mah'ātmā - grand-natured, puruṣ'ottamaḥ - the best of men (Ādiparvan 67.27).

Even after nine years, when Kaṇva paid lip service to societal prejudices against married women staying too long with their parents (nārīṇāṃ cira-vāso hi bāndhaveṣu na rocate kīrti-cāritra-dharma-ghnaḥ; Ādiparvan 68.11) and sent Śakuntalā to remind her husband of his responsibilities, she knew that when society disappointed her, it was always all right to come back home.

Kaṇva's celibacy and reluctant admission that a wife shouldn't stay away from her husband contrast with Śakuntalā's powerful words about a wife's ability to make her husband's existence sublime (Ādiparvan 68.41, 68.43, 68.45, 68.49):

bhāryā-vantaḥ kriyā-vantaḥ sabhāryā gṛha-medhinaḥ

bhāryā-vantaḥ pramodante bhāryā-vantaḥ śriyā'nvitāḥ

Those who have wives have activities. Those who have wives have sanctified homes. Those who have wives are delighted. Those who have wives are accompanied by prosperity.

...

kāntāreṣv api viśrāmo narasy'ādhvanikasya vai

yaḥ sadāraḥ sa viśvāsyas tasmād dārāḥ parā gatiḥ

Even in wildernesses, a shelter for a journeying man is certain: whoever is with his wife is trustworthy. Therefore, wives are the ultimate refuge.

...

prathamaṃ saṃsthitā bhāryā patiṃ pretya pratīkṣate

pūrvaṃ mṛtaṃ ca bhartāraṃ paścāt sādhvy anugacchati

A wife who dies first waits for her husband after passing on. And when a husband dies first, a good woman follows him later. (The custom of widow-burning may have been unknown to the author.)

...

dahyamānā mano-duḥkhair vyādhibhiś c'āturā narāḥ

hlādante sveṣu dāreṣu gharm'ārtāḥ salileṣv iva

Burning with mental suffering and disturbed by diseases, men among their own wives feel refreshed like sweat-agitated people in bodies of water.

Kaṇva said that there are different ways to be a father (Ādiparvan 66.13):

śarīra-kṛt prāṇa-dātā yasya c'ānnāni bhuñjate

krameṇa te trayo'py uktāḥ pitaro dharma-niścaye

One who forms the body, one who saves life, and the one whose food is eaten - in this sequence, all three of them are called fathers to determine what is right.

Thus, Viśvāmitra who begot Śakuntalā, the birds who protected her, and Kaṇva who provided for her are all her fathers. Yet Śakuntalā recognizes only Kaṇva as her father, having never known her natural father (Ādiparvan 66.17):

Kaṇvaṃ hi pitaraṃ manye pitaraṃ svam ajānatī

However, speaking to the deadbeat dad Duḥṣanta, Śakuntalā has to emphasize the genetic bond (Ādiparvan 68.48, 68.54, 68.64-65):

bhāryāyāṃ janitaṃ putram ādarśe svam iv'ānanam

hlādate janitā prekṣya svargaṃ prāpy'eva puṇya-kṛt

Looking at the son begotten from his wife, like his own face in a mirror, the begetter is refreshed as if reaching heaven by good deeds.

...

aṇḍāni bibhrati svāni na bhindanti pipīlikāḥ

na bharethāḥ kathaṃ nu tvaṃ dharma-jñaḥ san svam ātmajam

Ants maintain their own eggs, and don't crack them. So, how would you not provide for your own son, when you know what is right?

...

tvad-aṅgebhyaḥ prasūto'yaṃ puruṣāt puruṣo'paraḥ

saras'īv'āmale'tmānaṃ dvitīyaṃ paśya me sutam

From your limbs this one was given birth, from a person another person. As if in a pristine lake, see your second self in my son.

yathā hy Āhavanīyo'gnir Gārhapatyāt praṇīyate

tathā tvattaḥ prasūto'yaṃ tvam ekaḥ san dvidhā kṛtaḥ

Just as the ceremonial Āhavanīya fire is carried out from the domestic Gārhapatya fire, so from you this one was given birth. You, remaining one, were made double.