Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 27
Adhyāya 14: Sudēṣṇā Sends Sairandhrī to Kīcaka’s House (सुदेष्णा–सैरन्ध्री–कीचक संवादः)
प्रविष्टा ह्मसितापाज्धि प्रचण्डाश्षण्डदारुणा: । अत्युन्मादसमारम्भा: प्रीत्युन्मादकरा मम | आत्मप्रदानसम्भोगैर्मामुद्धर्तुमिहाहसि
vaiśampāyana uvāca | praviṣṭā hmasitāpājdhi pracaṇḍāśṣaṇḍadāruṇāḥ | aty-unmāda-samārambhāḥ prīty-unmāda-karā mama | ātma-pradāna-sambhogair mām uddhartum ihāhasi |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Mounted upon the whetstone of hope for union, the shafts of Kāma have become exceedingly sharp and fierce. Driven with violent force, cruel and dreadful, they have pierced and entered my heart, stirring a delirium like madness and inflaming me with love’s frenzy. Only you, O moon-faced one, can rescue me here—by the ‘medicine’ of union that comes through self-surrender.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds how unchecked desire can overwhelm discernment, using the imagery of Kāma’s arrows to depict psychological and bodily agitation; it also frames ‘self-surrender’ as the sought remedy, revealing the ethical tension between impulse and restraint within human relationships.
A speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) addresses a ‘moon-faced’ woman, describing being struck by the fierce arrows of love and pleading that she alone can save him through intimate union—an intense erotic appeal expressed through martial metaphors.