Shloka 25

Adhyāya 125: Raṅga-pradarśana — Arjuna’s Entry and Astric Demonstration (रङ्गप्रदर्शनम्)

Devanagari script

माद्रयुवाच अहमेवानुयास्यामि भर्तारमपलायिनम्‌ । न हि तृप्तास्मि कामानां ज्येष्ठा मामनुमन्यताम्‌

Transliteration

mādry uvāca: aham evānuyāsyāmi bhartāram apalāyinam | na hi tṛptāsmi kāmānāṁ jyeṣṭhā mām anumanyatām ||

Translation

Mādrī said: “I alone will follow my husband, who never turns away in flight. For I have not been satisfied in the pleasures of love. You are the elder; therefore, let the senior queen grant me permission.”

Word by Word

• {'mādrī uvāca': 'Mādrī said', 'aham eva': 'I alone

• I myself', 'anuyāsyāmi': 'I will follow

• I will go after', 'bhartāram': 'husband

• lord (as spouse)', 'apalāyinam': 'one who does not flee

• not a deserter (especially from battle)', 'na hi': 'indeed not

• certainly not', 'tṛptā asmi': 'I am satisfied (lit. ‘I am content’)', 'kāmānām': 'of pleasures/desires

• specifically erotic enjoyment', 'jyeṣṭhā': 'the elder (wife/sister)

• senior', 'mām': 'me', 'anumanyatām': 'let (her) consent/permit

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mādrī
• Pāṇḍu (implied by 'bhartā')
• Kuntī (implied by 'jyeṣṭhā')

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds wifely loyalty and the ethics of consent within a household hierarchy: Mādrī asserts her resolve to accompany her husband and explicitly seeks the elder queen’s approval, showing that even intense personal resolve is framed within dharma and social order.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the account of Pāṇḍu’s end in the forest, Mādrī declares that she will go with her husband (toward death), describing him as one who never flees, and asks the elder wife (Kuntī) to grant permission for her decision.