Shloka 21

Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 22 — Draupadī’s Abduction Attempt and Bhīma’s Suppression of the Kīcakas

Devanagari script

तस्य तत्‌ कुर्वतः कर्म कालो दीर्घ इवाभवत्‌ । अनुचिन्तयतश्नचापि तामेवायतलोचनाम्‌,मन-ही-मन विशाल नेत्रोंवाली द्रौपदीका बारंबार चिन्तन करते हुए शृंगार धारण करते समय कीचकको वह थोड़ा-सा समय भी उत्कण्ठावश बहुत बड़ा-सा प्रतीत हुआ

Transliteration

tasya tat kurvataḥ karma kālo dīrgha ivābhavat | anucintayataś cāpi tām evāyatalocanām ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Während er dieser Tätigkeit nachging, schien die Zeit sich zu dehnen und lang zu werden. Und da er immer wieder über jene langäugige Dame (Draupadī) nachsann, erschien ihm selbst ein kurzer Augenblick aus ruheloser Sehnsucht wie eine gewaltige Spanne.

Word by Word

तस्यof him

तत्that

कुर्वतःwhile doing / of (him) doing

कर्मact, task

कालःtime

दीर्घःlong

इवas if

अभवत्became, seemed

अनुचिन्तयतःof (him) repeatedly thinking

चand

अपिeven, also

ताम्her

एवindeed, just

आयतलोचनाम्the long-eyed (woman)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Draupadī (āyatalocanā)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Unchecked fixation and lust distort one’s sense of time and judgment, pushing a person toward unethical choices; the verse hints at how inner obsession becomes a driver of adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

While engaged in his undertaking, the man (contextually, Kīcaka in the Draupadī episode) keeps thinking of Draupadī; because of impatient longing, even a short interval feels unbearably long.