Shloka 7

Adhyaya 11 — Draupadī’s Grief, Demand for Justice, and Bhīma’s Departure

Devanagari script

बभूव वदनं तस्या: सहसा शोककर्षितम्‌ । फुल्लपद्मपलाशाक्ष्यास्तमोग्रस्त इवांशुमान्‌

Transliteration

babhūva vadanaṃ tasyāḥ sahasā śokakarṣitam | phullapadmapalāśākṣyās tamograsta ivāṃśumān ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Ihr Antlitz wurde plötzlich, vom Kummer gezehrt, eingefallen und hart; und obgleich sie lotusäugig war, mit Augen wie die Blätter eines voll erblühten Lotos, glich ihr Gesicht der Sonne, die von der Finsternis verschlungen wird.

Word by Word

• बभूव: became/was
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/परफेक्ट), प्रथम, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• वदनम्: face
• वदनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वदन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तस्याः: of her
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• सहसा: suddenly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहसा (अव्यय)

• शोककर्षितम्: drawn/afflicted by grief
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शोककर्षित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; कर्षित < कृश्/कर्ष्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• फुल्लपद्मपलाशाक्ष्याः: of the woman whose eyes are like petals of a blooming lotus
• Type: Noun
• Root: फुल्लपद्मपलाशाक्षी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• तमोग्रस्तः: seized/covered by darkness
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तमोग्रस्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; ग्रस्त < ग्रस्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• इव: as if/like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)

• अंशुमान्: the sun (the radiant one)
• अंशुमान्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अंशुमत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• the unnamed woman (tasyāḥ; lotus-eyed)
• the sun (aṃśumān)
• darkness (tamas)
• lotus (padma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how overwhelming grief can eclipse even natural beauty and composure, using the ethical-emotional aftermath of violence to show the human cost of war: sorrow can ‘darken’ the inner light just as darkness obscures the sun.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a woman’s sudden transformation under intense sorrow: her face becomes grief-stricken, and the simile compares her diminished radiance to the sun when it is covered by darkness.