Shloka 28
द्रौपदी-भीमसेनसंवादः
Draupadī–Bhīmasena Dialogue on Suffering, Kāla, and Daiva
धर्मे शौर्ये च सत्ये च जीवलोकस्य सम्मतम् | स्त्रीवेषविकृतं पार्थ दृष्टया सीदति मे मन:,धर्म, शूरवीरता और सत्यभाषणमें जो सम्पूर्ण जीव-जगत्के लिये एक आदर्श था, उसी अर्जुनको अब स्त्रीवेषमें विकृत हुआ देखकर मेरा हृदय शोकमें डूब जाता है
dharme śaurye ca satye ca jīvalokasya sammatam | strīveṣavikṛtaṃ pārtha dṛṣṭvā sīdati me manaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Arjuna—von der ganzen Welt der Lebewesen geachtet für seine Standhaftigkeit im Dharma, seine Tapferkeit und seine Wahrhaftigkeit—erscheint nun entstellt in weiblicher Verkleidung. Wenn ich Pārtha so sehe, sinkt mir das Herz in Trauer.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between inner virtue and outward appearance: one who is universally honored for dharma, valor, and truth may still adopt a humiliating disguise due to circumstance. Ethical worth is not diminished by external form, yet the sight can evoke grief in those who revere the ideal.
During the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito stay in Virāṭa’s kingdom, Arjuna lives in disguise (as a womanly-presenting dance/music teacher). Vaiśampāyana remarks sorrowfully that seeing the famed hero Pārtha altered by a woman’s guise makes his heart sink.