Shloka 6
Śārṅgakānāṃ Avināśaḥ (Why the Śārṅga Birds Were Spared) | शार्ङ्गकानामविनाशः
उचितश्लैव सम्बन्ध: सुभद्रां च यशस्विनीम् । एष चापीदृशः पार्थ: प्रसह् हृतवानिति,“मेरी समझमें यह सम्बन्ध बहुत उचित है। सुभद्रा यशस्विनी है और ये कुन्तीपुत्र अर्जुन भी ऐसे ही यशस्वी हैं; अतः इन्होंने सुभद्राका बलपूर्वक हरण किया है
ucitaś caiva sambandhaḥ subhadrāṃ ca yaśasvinīm | eṣa cāpīdṛśaḥ pārthaḥ prasahya hṛtavān iti |
Vaiśampāyana said: “This alliance is indeed fitting. Subhadrā is renowned, and this son of Kuntī—Arjuna—possesses the same renown. Therefore he has carried Subhadrā away by force.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how dharma is often assessed through suitability (status, virtue, fame) as well as outward action. Even when an act appears coercive (“prasahya”), the narrative voice frames the match as ‘proper’ due to the comparable merit and renown of the pair, showing the epic’s concern with social legitimacy and contextual ethics.
Vaiśampāyana reports an evaluation of Arjuna’s taking of Subhadrā: Subhadrā is celebrated, Arjuna is likewise illustrious, and thus the alliance is deemed appropriate; the event is described as a forcible carrying off, i.e., an elopement/abduction presented in a Kṣatriya idiom.