Shloka 17
तत्रैव गच्छ कौन्तेय यत्र सा सात्वतात्मजा । सुबद्धस्यापि भारस्य पूर्वबन्ध: श्लथायते,द्रौपदीने प्रणणकोपवश कुरुनन्दन अर्जुनसे कहा--'कुन्तीकुमार! यहाँ क्यों आये हो, वहीं जाओ, जहाँ वह सात्वतवंशकी कन्या सुभद्रा है। सच है, बोझको कितना ही कसकर बाँधा गया हो, जब उसे दूसरी बार बाँधते हैं, तब पहला बन्धन ढीला पड़ जाता है (यही हालत मेरे प्रति तुम्हारे प्रेमबन्धनकी है)
tatraiva gaccha kaunteya yatra sā sātvātātmajā | subaddhasyāpi bhārasya pūrvabandhaḥ ślathāyate ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Go from here, O son of Kuntī, to the very place where Subhadrā, the daughter of the Sātvata line, is. Even a load that has been tightly bound becomes loosened at its earlier knot when it is tied again—so too, when a new attachment is formed, the former bond tends to slacken.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a practical metaphor: when a burden is tied again, the earlier knot can loosen. Likewise, forming a new bond can weaken a prior attachment. It highlights the fragility of human commitments when competing affections arise.
The speaker directs Arjuna (Kaunteya) to go to Subhadrā, identifying her as the Sātvata clan’s daughter, and comments—through the metaphor of a loosening knot—on how earlier bonds can slacken when a new relationship is formed.