Shloka 8
Nala’s Embassy to Damayantī and the Gods’ Proposal (नलस्य दूतत्वं देवप्रस्तावश्च)
योडसौ गच्छति धर्मात्मा बहून् क्लेशान् विचिन्तयन् । भवतन्नियोगाद् बीभत्सुस्ततो दुःखतरं नु किम्,'जो धर्मात्मा अर्जुन अनेक प्रकारके क्लेशोंका चिन्तन करते हुए आपकी आज्ञासे तपस्याके लिये गया, उससे बढ़कर दुःख और क्या होगा?
yo ’sau gacchati dharmātmā bahūn kleśān vicintayan | bhavatāṃ niyogād bībhatsus tato duḥkhataraṃ nu kim ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “That righteous-souled one—Bībhatsu (Arjuna)—has gone forth to perform austerities at your command, turning over many hardships in his mind. What sorrow could be greater than that?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of dharma-driven action: a righteous person may accept severe hardship when duty and obedience to rightful instruction demand it, and such self-chosen suffering becomes a measure of the situation’s gravity.
Vaiśampāyana remarks that Arjuna—called Bībhatsu—has departed for austerities on the instruction of others, while contemplating many difficulties; the speaker frames this as an extreme form of sorrow, implying that circumstances have become painfully demanding for the righteous.