Shloka 36
Parṇāda’s Report; Bāhuka’s Counsel; Damayantī’s Strategic Svayaṃvara Message (अध्याय ६८)
ततः सुदेवमानाय्य राजमाता विशाम्पते । पप्रच्छ भार्या कस्येयं सुता वा कस्य भाविनी,युधिष्ठिर! तब राजमाताने सुदेवको बुलाकर पूछा--“विप्रवर! जान पड़ता है, तुम इसे जानते हो। बताओ, यह सुन्दरी युवती किसकी पत्नी अथवा किसकी पुत्री है? यह सुन्दर नेत्रोंवाली सुन्दरी अपने भाई-बन्धुओं अथवा पतिसे किस प्रकार विलग हुई है? यह सती- साध्वी नारी ऐसी दुरवस्थामें क्यों पड़ गयी?
tataḥ sudevam ānāyya rājamātā viśāmpate | papraccha bhāryā kasyeyaṃ sutā vā kasya bhāvinī, yudhiṣṭhira |
Then the queen-mother, O lord of the people, had Sudeva brought before her and questioned him: “O best of brāhmaṇas, it seems you know her. Tell me—whose wife is this, or whose daughter is she, O Yudhiṣṭhira? How has this beautiful, lotus-eyed woman become separated from her kinsmen or from her husband? Why has this faithful and virtuous lady fallen into such a wretched condition?”
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharmic concern for a vulnerable woman: a ruler’s household should not ignore suffering but must inquire carefully into identity, kinship ties, and the causes of distress, so that protection and justice can be properly extended.
Bṛhadaśva narrates that the queen-mother summons Sudeva and questions him about a beautiful young woman—asking whose wife or daughter she is, how she became separated from her relatives or husband, and why she has fallen into misery.