Shloka 28
द्रौपदी-भीमसेनसंवादः
Draupadī–Bhīmasena Dialogue on Suffering, Kāla, and Daiva
धर्मे शौर्ये च सत्ये च जीवलोकस्य सम्मतम् | स्त्रीवेषविकृतं पार्थ दृष्टया सीदति मे मन:
dharme śaurye ca satye ca jīvalokasya sammatam | strīveṣavikṛtaṃ pārtha dṛṣṭvā sīdati me manaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Arjuna—approved by the whole world of living beings for his steadfastness in dharma, his valor, and his truthfulness—now appears distorted in a woman’s guise. Seeing Pārtha thus, my heart sinks into sorrow.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between inner virtue and outward appearance: one who is universally honored for dharma, valor, and truth may still adopt a humiliating disguise due to circumstance. Ethical worth is not diminished by external form, yet the sight can evoke grief in those who revere the ideal.
During the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito stay in Virāṭa’s kingdom, Arjuna lives in disguise (as a womanly-presenting dance/music teacher). Vaiśampāyana remarks sorrowfully that seeing the famed hero Pārtha altered by a woman’s guise makes his heart sink.