Shloka 6

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

Devanagari script

समीक्षमाण: स तु तां वयःस्थां तनुवाससम्‌ | तस्य काम: प्रववृथे गहने5ग्निरिवोद्गत:

Transliteration

samīkṣamāṇaḥ sa tu tāṃ vayaḥsthāṃ tanuvāsasam | tasya kāmaḥ pravavṛdhe gahane 'gnir ivodgataḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: As he looked upon that youthful woman, clad in a thin garment, desire flared up in Pāṇḍu’s heart—like a wildfire suddenly rising in a dense forest.

Word by Word

• समीक्षमाणः: looking at, observing
• समीक्षमाणः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: समीक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, शतृ (वर्तमान कृदन्त, परस्मैपदी)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तु: but, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• ताम्: her
• ताम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• वयःस्थाम्: in youthful age, of marriageable age
• वयःस्थाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वयःस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तनु-वाससम्: wearing a thin garment
• तनु-वाससम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तनुवासस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तस्य: of him
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• कामः: desire, passion
• कामः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: काम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रववृथे: grew, arose, increased
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + वृध् (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

• गहने: in a dense thicket/forest
• गहने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गहन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अग्निः: fire
• अग्निः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: like, as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• उद्गतः: risen, sprung up
• Type: Verb
• Root: उद् + गम् (धातु)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (भूतकृदन्त)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pāṇḍu
• a youthful woman (unnamed in this verse)
• dense forest (gahana)
• fire/wildfire (agni)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how desire can arise suddenly and powerfully through sensory contact, suggesting the ethical need for vigilance and self-restraint (dama) so that impulse does not override dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that Pāṇḍu, upon seeing a youthful woman in a thin garment, is overcome by desire, compared to a wildfire erupting in a dense forest—an image that anticipates morally fraught action and its consequences.