SB 9.16.35 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

ज्येष्ठं मन्त्रद‍ृशं चक्रुस्त्वामन्वञ्चो वयं स्म हि । विश्वामित्र: सुतानाह वीरवन्तो भविष्यथ । ये मानं मेऽनुगृह्णन्तो वीरवन्तमकर्त माम् ॥ ३५ ॥

Verse text

jyeṣṭhaṁ mantra-dṛśaṁ cakrus tvām anvaṣco vayaṁ sma hi viśvāmitraḥ sutān āha vīravanto bhaviṣyatha ye mānaṁ me ’nugṛhṇanto vīravantam akarta mām

Synonyms

jyeṣṭham — the eldest ; mantra — dṛśam — a seer of mantras ; cakruḥ — they accepted ; tvām — you ; anvaṣcaḥ — have agreed to follow ; vayam — we ; sma — indeed ; hi — certainly ; viśvāmitraḥ — the great sage Viśvāmitra ; sutān — to the obedient sons ; āha — said ; vīra — vantaḥ — fathers of sons ; bhaviṣyatha — become in the future ; ye — all of you who ; mānam — honor ; me — my ; anugṛhṇantaḥ — accepted ; vīra — vantam — the father of good sons ; akarta — you have made ; mām — me .

Translation

Thus the younger Madhucchandās accepted Śunaḥśepha as their eldest brother and told him, “We shall follow your orders.” Viśvāmitra then said to his obedient sons, “Because you have accepted Śunaḥśepha as your eldest brother, I am very satisfied. By accepting my order, you have made me a father of worthy sons, and therefore I bless all of you to become the fathers of sons also.”

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The younger Madhucchandās accepted Śunaḥśepha, seer of mantras, as their eldest brother and told him, "We shall follow your orders." Viśvāmitra then said to his sons, "You, who accepted to honor me, will have sons. You have made me have sons." The younger sons accepted Śunaḥśepha, seer of mantras, as the eldest son. He revealed mantras such as kasya nūnaṁ katamasyāmṛtānām. They said, “We, who are younger, will follow you.” Viśvāmitra, being pleased, said to them, “You will have sons. You accepted me as respectable by following my order. Thus, you have made me have sons. Otherwise if you also received my curse and became mlecchas, I would be without sons.”

Purport

Of the one hundred sons, half disobeyed Viśvāmitra by not accepting Śunaḥśepha as their eldest brother, but the other half accepted his order. Therefore the father blessed the obedient sons to become the fathers of sons. Otherwise they too would have been cursed to be sonless mlecchas.