Shloka 42

Kaurava Court Hears of the Pāṇḍavas’ Forest Hardship (वैचित्रवीर्यवंशीयस्य राज्ञः करुणाविचारः)

Devanagari script

कामयिष्यामि कामार्ता तासां रूपेण मोहितम्‌ । एवं कृते प्रीतिरस्य कामावाप्तिश्न मे भवेत्‌,मैं अग्निके प्रति कामभावसे पीड़ित हूँ। अतः स्वयं ही सप्तर्षिपत्नियोंके रूप धारण करके अग्निदेवकी कामना करूँगी; क्योंकि वे उनके रूपसे मोहित हो रहे हैं। ऐसा करनेसे उन्हें प्रसन्नता होगी और मेरी कामना भी पूर्ण हो जायगी”

Transliteration

kāmayiṣyāmi kāmārtā tāsāṃ rūpeṇa mohitam | evaṃ kṛte prītir asya kāmāvāptiś ca me bhavet ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „Vom Verlangen gepeinigt werde ich ihn in Liebe suchen, indem ich ihre eigenen Gestalten annehme; denn er ist von ihrer Schönheit betört. Geschieht dies, wird er erfreut sein, und auch mein Sehnen wird sich erfüllen.“

Word by Word

कामयिष्यामिI shall desire / I shall seek (sexually/long for)

कामार्ताafflicted by desire

तासाम्of those (women)

रूपेणby/with (their) form

मोहितम्deluded/infatuated (him)

एवम्thus

कृतेwhen (this is) done / in this being done

प्रीतिःpleasure/satisfaction

अस्यof him

कामावाप्तिःattainment of (my) desire

चand

मेfor me / my

भवेत्would be / may become

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Agni (implied by the narrative context of Agni desiring the wives of the Seven Ṛṣis)

wives of the Seven Ṛṣis (Saptarṣi-patnīs, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how unchecked desire (kāma) can drive one toward deception—assuming another’s form to gratify passion. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such actions warn of the moral and social disorder that arises when impulse overrides restraint and truthfulness.

What is happening in the narrative?

A female figure, speaking within Mārkaṇḍeya’s narration, declares that she is tormented by desire and will therefore take on the forms of the wives of the Seven Ṛṣis, because the target of her desire is infatuated with their beauty. By doing so, she expects to please him and satisfy her own longing.