Shloka 23

Kīcaka-vadha-pratisaṃjñā: Rumor in Matsya and the Kaurava Scouts’ Report (कीचकवध-प्रतिसंज्ञा)

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत विराटपर्वके अन्तर्गत कीचकवधपर्वमें तेईसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

bṛhannalovāca—bṛhannalāpi kalyāṇi duḥkham āproty anuttamam | tiryagyonigatā bāle na cainām avabudhyase ||

Translation

Bṛhannalā sprach: „O glückverheißendes Mädchen, selbst ich—Bṛhannalā—bin in einen Zustand äußersten Schmerzes geraten. In eine niedrige Lage herabgesunken, gleich der der Tiere (ein entwürdigter Zustand), bist du noch unschuldig; darum erkennst du nicht wirklich, wer ich bin.“

Word by Word

• बृहन्नला: Bṛhannalā (name)
• बृहन्नला: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बृहन्नला
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect (Paroksha-bhuta), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• बृहन्नला: Bṛhannalā
• बृहन्नला: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बृहन्नला
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• कल्याणि: O auspicious one
• Type: Noun
• Root: कल्याणी
• Form: Feminine, Vocative, Singular

• दुःखम्: sorrow, suffering
• दुःखम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• आप्नोति: attains/undergoes
• Type: Verb
• Root: आप्
• Form: Present, 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अनुत्तमम्: unsurpassed, extreme
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनुत्तम
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• तिर्यक्: in an animal (non-human) state
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तिर्यक्
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• योनिगताः: gone into a womb/state (born as)
• योनिगताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: योनिगत
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• बाले: O girl/child
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाला
• Form: Feminine, Vocative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एनाम्: her (this one)
• एनाम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• अवबुध्यसे: you understand/recognize
• Type: Verb
• Root: बुध्
• Form: Present, 2nd, Singular, Atmanepada

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bṛhannalā

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical weight of hidden suffering: a person may endure intense humiliation or hardship under a disguise or degraded condition, and outsiders—especially the innocent—may fail to recognize the depth of that pain or the person’s true identity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bṛhannalā (Arjuna in concealment during the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito year) speaks to a young woman, explaining that she too bears extreme suffering by being forced into a low, socially diminished condition, and that the listener does not yet understand her true situation/identity.