Mahabharata — Adi Parva, Shloka 9
Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)
सान्त्वपूर्व मुनिश्रेष्ठ: कामार्तो मधुरं वच: । उक्त जन्म कुलं महामस्मि दाशसुतेत्यहम्
sāntvapūrvaṁ muniśreṣṭhaḥ kāmārto madhuraṁ vacaḥ | ukta-janma-kulaṁ mahām asmi dāśasūtety aham ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: Entonces el mejor de los sabios, afligido por el deseo, me habló con palabras suaves y dulces, declarando primero su propio nacimiento y linaje. Yo respondí: «Venerable señor, en verdad soy hija de una mujer Niṣāda (del pueblo de los pescadores)».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how persuasion and self-presentation (declaring one’s lineage) can be used to soften resistance, while also foregrounding ethical tension: desire seeks expression, yet social identity and propriety shape the response.
A sage, overcome by desire, addresses the young boatwoman with gentle, sweet speech and introduces his own lineage; she replies by stating her own social origin—she is a dāśasūtā, the daughter of a Niṣāda/fisherfolk family.