Shloka 15
Parṇāda’s Report; Bāhuka’s Counsel; Damayantī’s Strategic Svayaṃvara Message (अध्याय ६८)
विध्वस्तपर्णकमलां वित्रासितविहंगमाम् | हस्तिहस्तपरामृष्टां व्याकुलामिव पद्मिनीम्,इसकी दशा उस पुष्करिणीके समान दिखायी देती है, जिसे हाथियोंने अपने शुण्डदण्डसे मथ डाला हो तथा जो नष्ट हुए पत्तोंवाले कमलसे युक्त हो एवं जिसके भीतर निवास करनेवाले पक्षी अत्यन्त भयभीत हो रहे हों। यह दुःखसे अत्यन्त व्याकुल-सी प्रतीत हो रही है
vidhvastaparṇakamalāṁ vitrāsitavihaṅgamām | hastihastaparāmṛṣṭāṁ vyākulām iva padminīm |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Her condition appears like that of a lotus-pond whose lotus-leaves have been shattered, whose birds are terrified, and which has been churned and struck by the trunks of elephants—restless and distressed, as though overwhelmed by sorrow.”
युदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a vivid simile to communicate the ethical weight of empathy: inner suffering is real and visible in its effects, just as a pond’s beauty collapses when violently disturbed. It invites the listener to recognize distress and respond with compassion rather than indifference.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes someone’s pitiable condition by comparing it to a lotus-pond ravaged by elephants—leaves destroyed and birds terrified—conveying intense agitation and grief in a concrete, natural image typical of the Vana Parva’s forest setting.