Shloka 5
Kurukṣetra–Sarasvatī Tīrtha-Māhātmya
Pilgrimage Merits and Sacred Geography
यथा च वेदान् सावित्री याज्ञसेनी तथा पतीन् | न जहीौ धर्मत: पार्थान् मेरुमर्कप्रभा यथा,जैसे गायत्री चारों वेदोंका और सूर्यकी प्रभा मेरु पर्वतका त्याग नहीं करती, उसी प्रकार याज्ञसेनी द्रौपदीने भी धर्मतः अपने पति कुन्तीकुमारोंका परित्याग नहीं किया
yathā ca vedān sāvitry yājñasenī tathā patīn | na jahau dharmataḥ pārthān merum arkaprabhā yathā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Just as Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī) does not abandon the Vedas, and as the sun’s radiance does not forsake Mount Meru, so too Yājñasenī (Draupadī), acting in accordance with dharma, did not renounce her husbands—the Pārthas, the sons of Kuntī.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises steadfast adherence to dharma: Draupadī’s loyalty to her husbands is presented as unwavering and natural, like the inseparable relation of Gāyatrī to the Vedas and sunlight to Mount Meru.
Vaiśampāyana characterizes Draupadī (Yājñasenī) as not abandoning the Pāṇḍavas even amid hardship, emphasizing her righteous constancy through two well-known sacred/cosmic similes.