Shloka 22
Kīcaka-vadha-pratisaṃjñā: Rumor in Matsya and the Kaurava Scouts’ Report (कीचकवध-प्रतिसंज्ञा)
न हि दुःखं समाप्रोषि सैरन्ध्री यदुपाश्रुते । तेन मां दुःखितामेवं पृच्छसे प्रहसन्निव,सैरन्ध्री जो दुःख भोग रही है, उसे दूर तो करोगी नहीं या उसका अनुभव तो तुम्हें होता नहीं; इसीलिये मुझ दुखियाकी केवल हँसी उड़ानेके लिये ऐसा प्रश्न कर रही हो?
na hi duḥkhaṃ samāproṣi sairandhrī yad upāśrute | tena māṃ duḥkhitām evaṃ pṛcchase prahasan niva ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Sairandhrī, you do not truly share in the suffering that has come upon me; nor can you remove it. Therefore you question me in this way as if merely to mock—laughing at one who is already afflicted.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical sensitivity: questioning a sufferer without empathy can become cruelty. True concern either shares the burden or seeks to relieve it; otherwise, inquiry may feel like ridicule.
In the Virāṭa court setting, Sairandhrī (Draupadī in disguise) speaks with a woman who is distressed. The speaker responds sharply, saying Sairandhrī neither experiences nor can remove her pain, so her questioning seems like mockery.