Shloka 131
Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)
अभिभूय स मां बालां तेजसा वशमानयत् । तमसा लोकमावृत्य नौगतामेव भारत
abhibhūya sa māṃ bālāṃ tejasā vaśam ānayat | tamasā lokam āvṛtya naugatām eva bhārata ||
Nachdem er mich überwältigt hatte—ich war damals noch ein junges Mädchen—brachte er mich durch die Macht seines Glanzes unter seine Gewalt. Die Welt in Finsternis hüllend, o Bhārata, entführte er mich, wie man eine Frau ergreift, die bereits in ein Boot gestiegen ist—rasch und jenseits jeder Gegenwehr.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical violation: overpowering a vulnerable person through sheer force and deception (darkness). It implicitly condemns coercion and the misuse of tejas (power) when it is turned into domination rather than protection.
The speaker recounts an abduction: a powerful man subdues the narrator, described as a young girl, and carries her off after enveloping the surroundings in darkness—likened to taking away someone already set in a boat, i.e., quickly and without effective resistance.