Shloka 16

Devanagari script

सुकुमारी सुजाताज़ीं रत्नगर्भगृहोचिताम्‌ । दह्यमानामिवार्केण मृणालीमिव चोद्धृताम्‌,मनोहर अंगोंवाली यह सुकुमारी राजकन्या उन महलोंमें रहनेयोग्य है, जिनका भीतरी भाग रत्नोंका बना हुआ है। (इस समय दुः:खने इसे ऐसा दुर्बल कर दिया है कि) यह सरोवरसे निकाली और सूर्यकी किरणोंसे जलायी हुई कमलिनीके समान प्रतीत हो रही है

Transliteration

sukumārī sujātā ca ratnagarbhagṛhocitām | dahyamānām ivārkeṇa mṛṇālīm iva coddhṛtām ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “She is delicate and well-born, fit to dwell in palaces whose inner chambers are inlaid with jewels. Yet now, consumed as though by the sun’s heat, she appears like a lotus-stalk pulled up from the lake—withered by suffering.”

Word by Word

• {'sukumārī': 'delicate, tender (a young woman of soft constitution)', 'sujātā': 'well-born, of noble birth', 'ratna-garbha': 'having an interior filled/inlaid with gems

• jewel-lined', 'gṛha-ucitām': 'fit/suitable for a house (i.e., accustomed to palace life)', 'dahyamānām': 'being burned/tormented

• suffering intensely', 'iva': 'as if, like', 'arkeṇa': 'by the sun

• by sunlight/heat', 'mṛṇālīm': 'lotus-stalk

• lotus-fibre (symbol of fragility)', 'uddhṛtām': 'pulled out, drawn up (from water)', 'ca': 'and'}

Speaker

युदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• a royal maiden/princess (implied)
• sun (arka)
• lotus-stalk (mṛṇāla)
• lake/pond (implied by ‘pulled out’)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse evokes compassion and moral responsibility: a person raised in comfort and protection becomes especially vulnerable when exposed to harsh conditions. The simile urges the listener to recognize suffering quickly and respond with dharmic care rather than indifference.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira describes a noble, delicate princess who should be living in jewel-lined palaces, but is now weakened by distress—likened to a lotus-stalk pulled from water and scorched by the sun—highlighting her fragility and the urgency of her plight.