Shloka 55

Devanagari script

अशक्यमूचुस्तत्‌ कार्य विवर्णा गतचेतस: । तत्र त्वेका जरद्योषा राजानमिदमब्रवीत्‌,'सुन्दरियो! तुम लुभाकर उन्हें सब प्रकारसे सुख-सुविधाका विश्वास दिलाकर मेरे राज्यमें ले आना।” महाराजकी यह बात सुनते ही वेश्याओंका रंग फीका पड़ गया। वे अचेत-सी हो गयीं। एक ओर तो उन्हें राजाका भय था और दूसरी ओर वे मुनिके शापसे डरी हुई थीं; अतः उन्होंने इस कार्यको असम्भव बताया। उन सबमें एक बूढ़ी स्त्री थी। उसने राजासे इस प्रकार कहा--

Transliteration

aśakyam ūcus tat kāryaṁ vivarṇā gata-cetasaḥ | tatra tv ekā jarad-yoṣā rājānam idam abravīt |

Translation

“It cannot be done,” they said—pale-faced and shaken in mind. Yet among them there was one aged woman, and she addressed the king as follows. The scene underscores a moral tension: fear of royal command on one side and fear of a sage’s curse on the other, showing how coercion and wrongdoing entangle agents in ethical peril.

Word by Word

अशक्यम्impossible (thing)

ऊचुःsaid

तत्that

कार्यम्task, deed

विवर्णाःpale, discolored

गतचेतसःout of their senses, bewildered

तत्रthere

तुbut

एकाone

जरत्old, aged

योषाwoman

राजानम्the king

इदम्this

अब्रवीत्said, spoke

Speaker

लोगश उवाच

Characters & Entities

rājā (the king)

jarad-yoṣā (an old woman)

the group of women/courtesans (implied by plural verbs)

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 highlights ethical conflict under coercion: when a ruler’s command pushes people toward wrongdoing, fear and moral consequence (such as a sage’s curse) expose the instability of actions driven by temptation and force rather than dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

A group tasked with an objectionable or dangerous mission declares it impossible, turning pale and mentally shaken. Then one elderly woman among them steps forward and begins to speak to the king, setting up the next turn in the episode.