Shloka 8
Adhyāya 14: Sudēṣṇā Sends Sairandhrī to Kīcaka’s House (सुदेष्णा–सैरन्ध्री–कीचक संवादः)
का देवरूपा हृदयड्भमा शुभे ह्याचक्ष्व मे कस्य कुतो5त्र शोभने । चित्त हि निर्मथ्य करोति मां वशे न चान्यदत्रौषधमस्ति मे मतम्
kā devarūpā hṛdayaṅgamā śubhe hy ācakṣva me kasya kuto ’tra śobhane | cittaṃ hi nirmathya karoti māṃ vaśe na cānyad atrauṣadham asti me matam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O auspicious lady, who is this—so divine in form—who has entered and taken hold of my heart? O beautiful one, tell me: whose wife is she, and from where has she come here? She churns my mind and brings me under her power. For this affliction of mine, I see no remedy other than attaining her.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how overpowering attraction can disturb discernment: the mind is ‘churned’ and one feels compelled, imagining a single object as the only ‘remedy.’ Ethically, it warns that desire can masquerade as necessity, urging vigilance and self-restraint.
A speaker, overwhelmed by the sight of a woman described as divinely beautiful, asks an attendant/confidante to identify her—whose wife she is and where she came from—confessing that his mind has been agitated and he feels there is no cure except obtaining her.