Shloka 30
स्त्रीपर्व — अध्याय १५: गान्धारी-युधिष्ठिर-संवादः
Gandhārī’s Confrontation and Consolation of Yudhiṣṭhira
अंगुल्यग्राणि ददृशे देवी पट्टान्तरेण सा । ततः स कुनखी भूतो दर्शनीयनखो नृप:,राजा युधिष्ठिर शरीरको झुकाकर गान्धारीके चरणोंपर गिर जाना चाहते थे। इतनेहीमें धर्मको जाननेवाली दूर-दर्शिनी देवी गान्धारीने पट्टीके भीतरसे ही राजा युधिष्ठिरके पैरोंकी अंगुलियोंके अग्रभाग देख लिये। इतनेहीसे राजाके नख काले पड़ गये। इसके पहले उनके नख बड़े ही सुन्दर और दर्शनीय थे
aṅgulyagrāṇi dadṛśe devī paṭṭāntareṇa sā | tataḥ sa kunakhī bhūto darśanīyanakho nṛpaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Through a narrow gap in her blindfold, the queen beheld the tips of his toes. In that very instant the king—whose nails had earlier been handsome and pleasing to behold—became as one with discolored, blemished nails. The scene reveals that even a restrained, unintended glance from dharma-knowing Gāndhārī bears moral force: Yudhiṣṭhira’s impulse to bow at her feet meets the lingering power of grief and righteous austerity after the war.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that dharma and inner austerity have palpable force: after catastrophic war, Gāndhārī’s restrained yet potent perception becomes a vehicle for consequence, reminding that moral suffering and righteous grief can manifest as immediate effects, even upon a well-intentioned act of reverence.
Yudhiṣṭhira, bending to fall at Gāndhārī’s feet, comes within her range. Though blindfolded, she sees the tips of his toes through a gap in the cloth; instantly his previously beautiful nails become discolored/blemished, foreshadowing the larger episode of Gāndhārī’s charged gaze in the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war.