Shloka 7

Brahmāstra-prayogaḥ: Daśagrīvasya Māyā-vadhaḥ

Rāma–Rāvaṇa Encounter under Illusion

Devanagari script

इमां हि पत्नीमस्माकं धर्मज्ञां धर्मचारिणीम्‌ | संस्पृशेदीदृशो भाव: शुचिं स्तैन्यमिवानृतम्‌,अन्यथा हमारी इस पत्नीको, जो धर्मको जाननेवाली तथा धर्मके पालनमें तत्पर रहनेवाली है, ऐसा भाव (अपह॒त होनेका लांछन) कैसे स्पर्श कर सकता था? यह तो ठीक वैसा ही है, जैसे किसी शुद्ध आचार-विचारवाले मनुष्यपर झूठे ही चोरीका कलंक लग जाय

Transliteration

imāṁ hi patnīm asmākaṁ dharmajñāṁ dharmacāriṇīm | saṁspṛśed īdṛśo bhāvaḥ śuciṁ stainyam ivānṛtam ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Wie könnte ein solcher Verdacht je unsere Gattin berühren—sie, die das Dharma kennt und nach dem Dharma lebt? Einer Reinen einen Makel anzudichten ist so grundlos, wie einen rechtschaffenen Menschen fälschlich des Diebstahls zu zeihen.“

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'imām', 'definition': 'this (woman), this one (accusative singular feminine)'}, {'term': 'hi', 'definition': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)'}, {'term': 'patnīm', 'definition': 'wife (accusative singular)'}, {'term': 'asmākam', 'definition': 'of us, our'}, {'term': 'dharmajñām', 'definition': 'knower of dharma

• one who understands righteousness/law'}, {'term': 'dharmacāriṇīm', 'definition': 'one who practices dharma

• one devoted to righteous conduct'}, {'term': 'saṁspṛśet', 'definition': 'could touch, could taint, could come into contact with (optative)'}, {'term': 'īdṛśaḥ', 'definition': 'such, of this kind'}, {'term': 'bhāvaḥ', 'definition': 'state of mind, notion, suspicion, imputation'}, {'term': 'śucim', 'definition': 'pure, clean, morally untainted (accusative singular)'}, {'term': 'stainyam', 'definition': 'theft

• the stigma/charge of stealing'}, {'term': 'iva', 'definition': 'like, as'}, {'term': 'anṛtam', 'definition': 'untrue, falsehood

Speaker

युधिषछ्िर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• the Pāṇḍavas (implied by 'our')
• their wife (Draupadī, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral character grounded in dharma should not be lightly suspected; to cast baseless blame on the virtuous is itself an ethical wrong, comparable to falsely accusing a pure person of theft.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira defends the moral integrity of their wife, arguing that a dishonoring suspicion cannot reasonably attach to someone known for understanding and practicing dharma, and he illustrates this with the analogy of a false charge of theft against a pure person.