Shloka 38
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Restraint and the Pāṇḍavas’ Authorized Return (धृतराष्ट्र-उपदेशः)
आभाति पद्मवद् वक्त्र॑ सस्वेदं मल्लिकेव च । वेदिमध्या दीर्घकेशी ताम्रास्था नातिलोमशा,उसका स्वेदबिन्दुओंसे विभूषित मुख कमलके समान सुन्दर और मल्लिकाके समान सुगन्धित है। उसका मध्यभाग वेदीके समान कृश दिखायी देता है। उसके सिरके केश बड़े- बड़े हैं, मुख और ओछ्ठ अरुणवर्णके हैं तथा उसके अंगोंमें अधिक रोमावलियाँ नहीं हैं
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | ābhāti padmavad vaktraṃ sasvedaṃ mallikeva ca | vedimadhyā dīrghakeśī tāmrāṣṭhā nātilomaśā ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Her face shines like a lotus, adorned with beads of perspiration, and it is fragrant like jasmine. Her waist is slender like the middle of a sacrificial altar; her hair is long; her lips are coppery-red; and her limbs are not overly hairy.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how powerful sensory impressions (beauty, fragrance, bodily signs) can shape perception and speech; in the ethical atmosphere of the Sabha Parva, such descriptions implicitly raise questions about restraint, propriety, and the responsibility to keep desire from overruling dharma.
Yudhiṣṭhira is describing a woman’s physical features in vivid, poetic similes—lotus-like radiance, jasmine-like fragrance, a slender waist, long hair, red lips—within the courtly setting of the Sabha Parva, where appearances and desire often intersect with moral and political consequences.