Shloka 6
Adhyāya 125: Raṅga-pradarśana — Arjuna’s Entry and Astric Demonstration (रङ्गप्रदर्शनम्)
समीक्षमाण: स तु तां वयःस्थां तनुवाससम् | तस्य काम: प्रववृथे गहने5ग्निरिवोद्गत:,वह युवावस्थासे युक्त थी और उसके शरीरपर झीनी-झीनी साड़ी सुशोभित थी। उसकी ओर देखते ही पाण्डुके मनमें कामनाकी आग जल उठी, मानो घने वनमें दावाग्नि प्रज्वलित हो उठी हो
samīkṣamāṇaḥ sa tu tāṃ vayaḥsthāṃ tanuvāsasam | tasya kāmaḥ pravavṛdhe gahane 'gnir ivodgataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Als er jene junge Frau erblickte, in ein dünnes Gewand gehüllt, loderte in Pāṇḍus Herzen das Begehren auf—wie ein Waldbrand, der plötzlich im dichten Forst emporfährt.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how desire can arise suddenly and powerfully through sensory contact, suggesting the ethical need for vigilance and self-restraint (dama) so that impulse does not override dharma.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Pāṇḍu, upon seeing a youthful woman in a thin garment, is overcome by desire, compared to a wildfire erupting in a dense forest—an image that anticipates morally fraught action and its consequences.