Shloka 26

Devanagari script

रूपयौवनमाधुर्यचेष्टितस्मित भाषणै: । लोभयित्वा वरारोहे तपसस्तं निवर्तय,“वरारोहे! अपने रूप, जवानी, मधुर स्वभाव, हाव-भाव, मन्‍न्द मुसकान और सरस वार्तालाप आदिके द्वारा मुनिको लुभाकर उन्हें तपस्यासे निवृत्त कर दो”

Transliteration

rūpayauvanamādhuryaceṣṭitasmitabhāṣaṇaiḥ | lobhayitvā varārohe tapasas taṃ nivartaya ||

Translation

“O fair-hipped maiden, by your beauty, youth, sweetness, coquettish gestures, gentle smile, and charming speech, entice that sage and turn him away from his austerities.”

Word by Word

रूपbeauty/form

यौवनyouth

माधुर्यsweetness/charm

चेष्टितgestures/acts

स्मितsmile

भाषणैःby speeches/words

लोभयित्वाhaving enticed

वरारोहेO fair-thighed one

तपसःfrom austerity

तम्him

निवर्तयturn back/stop (him)

Speaker

कण्व उवाच

Characters & Entities

क

कण्व (Kaṇva)

व

वरारोहे (a maiden addressed; likely Śakuntalā in context)

म

मुनि (the sage; implied by context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse spotlights an ethical conflict: using charm and desire as instruments to derail a sage’s tapas. It implicitly raises questions about dharma—whether ends justify means, and how easily disciplined virtue can be tested by sensory allure.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kaṇva addresses a young woman and instructs her to employ her beauty, youth, pleasing demeanor, gestures, smile, and speech to entice a sage and make him abandon his austerities—an explicit directive to interrupt ascetic practice through seduction.