Shloka 17
मैत्रेयागमनम् — The Arrival of Maitreya and the Admonition to Duryodhana
दुःशासनकरोत्सृष्टविप्रकीर्णशिरोरुहा । पज्चपर्वतमध्यस्था नदीवाकुलतां गता,दुःशासनके हाथोंसे खुले हुए उसके केश सब ओर बिखरे हुए थे। वह पाँच पर्वतोंके बीचमें पड़ी हुई नदीकी भाँति व्याकुल हो उठी
Duḥśāsana-karotsṛṣṭa-viprakīrṇa-śiroruhā | pañca-parvata-madhyasthā nadī-vyākulatāṃ gatā ||
Vidura schildert ihre Erniedrigung: Ihr Haar, von Duḥśāsanas Händen gelöst, lag wirr und zerstreut. Sie geriet in Aufruhr und Erschütterung, wie ein Fluss, der zwischen fünf Bergen eingeklemmt ist—von allen Seiten eingeschlossen, ohne freien Lauf—ein Bild, das den gewaltsamen Bruch des Dharma und die moralische Empörung über die Tat hervorhebt.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns adharma through vivid imagery: violating a woman’s dignity is not merely personal cruelty but a collapse of social and royal ethics. Vidura’s description functions as moral indictment—when power is used to dishonor the vulnerable, the polity itself becomes ‘agitated’ and obstructed like a river with no rightful course.
Vidura recounts a scene of public humiliation in which Duḥśāsana forcibly loosens the woman’s hair, leaving it scattered. Her distress is compared to a river confined between five mountains, emphasizing her helplessness and the oppressive circumstances created by the perpetrators.