Shloka 4
द्रौपदी-भीमसेनसंवादः
Draupadī–Bhīmasena Dialogue on Suffering, Kāla, and Daiva
यदा महानसे सिद्धे विराटमुपतिष्ठसि । ब्रुवाणो बल्लव: सूदस्तदा सीदति मे मन:
yadā mahānase siddhe virāṭam upatiṣṭhasi | bruvāṇo ballavaḥ sūdās tadā sīdati me manaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: When the cooking in the royal kitchen is finished and you go to attend upon King Virāṭa, announcing, “O King, Ballava the cook has come to summon you for the meal,” then, on hearing this, my heart sinks in sorrow. The scene lays bare the strain of concealment and service: the noble, driven by circumstance, assume humble roles, and the witness feels the weight of that reversal.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension of enforced concealment: even the worthy may accept menial service to uphold a larger dharma (survival, vows, and future justice). The listener’s sorrow reflects compassion for virtue placed under constraint and the dignity that persists even in humble duty.
After food is prepared in the royal kitchen, the speaker describes someone approaching King Virāṭa and formally announcing that ‘Ballava, the cook,’ has come to invite him to eat. Hearing this announcement makes the narrator’s mind sink—because it evokes the painful spectacle of a significant person living under a servant’s guise.