Shloka 16
देवयान्युवाच दासीं कन्यासहस्त्रेण शर्मिष्ठामभिकामये । अनु मां तत्र गच्छेत् सा यत्र दद्याच्च मे पिता,देवयानीने कहा--मैं चाहती हूँ, शर्मिष्ठा एक हजार कन्याओंके साथ मेरी दासी होकर रहे और पिताजी जहाँ मेरा विवाह करें, वहाँ भी वह मेरे साथ जाय
devayāny uvāca dāsīṃ kanyāsahasreṇa śarmiṣṭhām abhikāmaye | anu māṃ tatra gacchet sā yatra dadyāc ca me pitā ||
Devayānī said: “I desire that Śarmiṣṭhā become my maidservant, attended by a thousand maidens. And wherever my father gives me in marriage, let her go there with me as well.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how wounded honor and pride can drive demands for lasting compensation, raising ethical concerns about proportionality and the misuse of social power; it invites reflection on dharma in responding to insult—whether redress should restore dignity without becoming oppression.
Devayānī states her condition: Śarmiṣṭhā must become her maid, accompanied by a thousand attendants, and must follow Devayānī to her marital home wherever her father arranges her marriage—making the subordination permanent and publicly affirmed.