Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 21
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 22 — Draupadī’s Abduction Attempt and Bhīma’s Suppression of the Kīcakas
तस्य तत् कुर्वतः कर्म कालो दीर्घ इवाभवत् । अनुचिन्तयतश्नचापि तामेवायतलोचनाम्
tasya tat kurvataḥ karma kālo dīrgha ivābhavat | anucintayataś cāpi tām evāyatalocanām ||
Vaiśampāyana said: As he went about that task, time itself seemed to stretch out and become long. And as he kept brooding again and again on that long-eyed lady (Draupadī), even a little while felt, through restless longing, like a very great span of time.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unchecked fixation and lust distort one’s sense of time and judgment, pushing a person toward unethical choices; the verse hints at how inner obsession becomes a driver of adharma.
While engaged in his undertaking, the man (contextually, Kīcaka in the Draupadī episode) keeps thinking of Draupadī; because of impatient longing, even a short interval feels unbearably long.