Shloka 21
Parṇāda’s Report; Bāhuka’s Counsel; Damayantī’s Strategic Svayaṃvara Message (अध्याय ६८)
इमामसितकेशान्तां शतपत्रायतेक्षणाम् | सुखारहा दुःखितां दृष्टवा ममापि व्यथते मन:,काले-काले केशों और कमलके समान विशाल नेत्रोंसे सुशोभित इस राजकन्याको, जो सदा सुख भोगनेके ही योग्य है, दुःखित देखकर मेरे मनमें भी बड़ी व्यथा हो रही है
imām asitakeśāntāṁ śatapatrāyatekṣaṇām | sukhārhā duḥkhitāṁ dṛṣṭvā mamāpi vyathate manaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Seeing this princess—her hair dark and lovely, her eyes wide like a hundred-petalled lotus—now fallen into sorrow though she is fit only for happiness, my own heart too is pained.”
युदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharmic sensitivity: a righteous person does not remain indifferent to another’s undeserved suffering; empathy itself becomes a moral response.
Yudhiṣṭhira observes a royal maiden—described with poetic markers of beauty and nobility—now suffering, and he openly states that her distress causes him inner pain as well.