Shloka 17
सीता-रावण-संवादः
Sītā–Rāvaṇa Dialogue in the Aśoka Grove
स कोटिकास्यस्तच्छुत्वा रथात् प्रस्कन्द्य कुण्डली । उपेत्य पप्रच्छ तदा क्रोष्टा व्याप्रवधूमिव,“यदि मैं इस सुन्दरीको पा जाऊँ तो कृतार्थ हो जाऊँगा। कोटिक! जाओ और पता लगाओ कि इसका पति कौन है?' जयद्रथका यह वचन सुनकर कुण्डलमण्डित कोटिकास्य रथसे उतर पड़ा और जैसे गीदड़ बाघकी स्त्रीसे बात करे, उसी प्रकार उसने द्रौपदीके पास जाकर पूछा
sa koṭikāsyas tac chrutvā rathāt praskandya kuṇḍalī | upetya papraccha tadā kroṣṭā vyāpravadhūm iva |
Vaiśampāyana said: Hearing those words, Koṭikāsya—wearing earrings—leapt down from the chariot. Approaching her, he questioned her then, like a jackal speaking to a tigress, implying both his audacity and the peril of provoking a powerful woman. The scene underscores the moral ugliness of treating a woman as an object of acquisition and foreshadows the ethical breach that will invite consequences.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unchecked desire leads to adharma: the verse frames the messenger’s approach as predatory and reckless (a jackal before a tigress), highlighting the ethical danger of objectifying and coercing a woman and hinting at inevitable repercussions.
After hearing his master’s command, Koṭikāsya jumps down from the chariot, approaches the woman (contextually Draupadī in this episode), and questions her—an intrusive inquiry that advances Jayadratha’s wrongful intent.