Text 44
uttamaś cintitaṁ kuryāt
prokta-kārī tu madhyamaḥ
adhamo ’śraddhayā kuryād
akartoccaritaṁ pituḥ
uttamaḥ — the best; cintitam — considering the father’s idea; kuryāt — acts accordingly; prokta-kārī — one who acts on the order of the father; tu — indeed; madhyamaḥ — mediocre; adhamaḥ — lower class; aśraddhayā — without any faith; kuryāt — acts; akartā — unwilling to do; uccaritam — like stool; pituḥ — of the father.
A son who acts by anticipating what his father wants him to do is first class, one who acts upon receiving his father’s order is second class, and one who executes his father’s order irreverently is third class. But a son who refuses his father’s order is like his father’s stool.
Pūru, Yayāti’s last son, immediately accepted his father’s proposal, for although he was the youngest, he was very qualified. Pūru thought, “I should have accepted my father’s proposal before he asked, but I did not. Therefore I am not a first-class son. I am second class. But I do not wish to become the lowest type of son, who is compared to his father’s stool.” One Indian poet has spoken of putra and mūtra. Putra means “son,” and mūtra means “urine.” Both a son and urine come from the same genitals. If a son is an obedient devotee of the Lord he is called putra, or a real son; otherwise, if he is not learned and is not a devotee, a son is nothing better than urine.