Shloka 15

सीता-रावण-संवादः

Sītā–Rāvaṇa Dialogue in the Aśoka Grove

Devanagari script

अपि नाम वरारोहा मामेषा लोकसुन्दरी । भजेदद्यायतापाज़्ी सुदती तनुमध्यमा,“क्या यह मनोहर कटिप्रदेशवाली विश्वसुन्दरी मुझे अंगीकार करेगी? इसके नेत्रप्रान्त कितने विशाल हैं, दाँत कैसे सुन्दर हैं और शरीरका मध्यभाग कितना सूक्ष्म है?

Transliteration

api nāma varārohā mām eṣā lokasundarī | bhajed adyāyatāpāṅgī sudatī tanumadhyamā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Might it be that this world-renowned beauty—graceful in her gait—would accept me today? She is wide-eyed, her teeth are lovely, and her waist is exquisitely slender.”

Word by Word

अपिindeed; perhaps

नामsurely; I wonder (particle)

वरारोहाa woman of beautiful hips/thighs

माम्me

एषाthis (woman)

लोकसुन्दरीbeauty of the world

भजेत्might choose/accept; might take (as husband/partner)

अद्यtoday; now

आयतापाङ्गीshe whose eye-corners are long/wide

सुदतीshe of beautiful teeth

तनुमध्यमाshe with a slender waist/middle

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the mind can be captivated by external beauty and slip into possessive longing; ethically, it serves as a reminder that desire (kāma) can cloud judgment and should be examined and restrained within dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator reports a character’s inward thought/utterance: he wonders whether a celebrated, attractive woman will accept him, describing her with conventional Sanskrit epithets (wide-eyed, beautiful-toothed, slender-waisted).