Shloka 36

Drupada’s Putrakāmeṣṭi: The Sacrificial Birth of Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Kṛṣṇā

Devanagari script

सद्यो हि गर्भान्‌ राक्षस्थो लभन्ते प्रसवन्ति च । कामरूपधराश्चैव भवन्ति बहुरूपिका:,राक्षसियाँ जब गर्भ धारण करती हैं, तब तत्काल ही उसको जन्म दे देती हैं। वे इच्छानुसार रूप धारण करनेवाली और नाना प्रकारके रूप बदलनेवाली होती हैं

Transliteration

sadyohi garbhān rākṣasyo labhante prasavanti ca | kāmarūpadharāś caiva bhavanti bahurūpikāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Rākṣasī-Frauen empfangen und gebären fast augenblicklich. Sie können nach Belieben Gestalt annehmen und sind fähig, viele verschiedene Erscheinungsformen zu tragen.“

Word by Word

सद्यःimmediately

हिindeed/for

गर्भान्pregnancies/embryos (wombs conceived)

राक्षस्यःshe-demons (rakshasi women)

लभन्तेobtain/receive

प्रसवन्तिgive birth/deliver

चand

कामरूपधराःhaving forms at will (assuming any desired form)

चand

एवindeed/just

भवन्तिare/become

बहुरूपिकाःof many forms; shape-shifting

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Rākṣasī (female rākṣasa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse characterizes rākṣasī nature as extraordinary and unstable—rapid conception and birth, and the power to change form at will—highlighting the epic’s contrast between human social order and beings who operate outside ordinary biological and ethical constraints.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana explains to the listener the distinctive traits of rākṣasī women, emphasizing their supernatural reproduction and shape-shifting abilities, likely to contextualize a rākṣasa-related episode and its unusual events.