Shloka 6

Adhyāya 125: Raṅga-pradarśana — Arjuna’s Entry and Astric Demonstration (रङ्गप्रदर्शनम्)

Devanagari script

समीक्षमाण: स तु तां वयःस्थां तनुवाससम्‌ | तस्य काम: प्रववृथे गहने5ग्निरिवोद्गत:

Transliteration

samīkṣamāṇaḥ sa tu tāṃ vayaḥsthāṃ tanuvāsasam | tasya kāmaḥ pravavṛdhe gahane 'gnir ivodgataḥ ||

Translation

Dijo Vaiśampāyana: Al posar la mirada en aquella joven, ceñida con un vestido tenue, el deseo se encendió en el corazón de Pāṇḍu—como un incendio que irrumpe de pronto en un bosque espeso.

Word by Word

• समीक्षमाणः: looking at, observing
• समीक्षमाणः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: समीक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, शतृ (वर्तमान कृदन्त, परस्मैपदी)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तु: but, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• ताम्: her
• ताम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• वयःस्थाम्: in youthful age, of marriageable age
• वयःस्थाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वयःस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तनु-वाससम्: wearing a thin garment
• तनु-वाससम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तनुवासस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तस्य: of him
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• कामः: desire, passion
• कामः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: काम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रववृथे: grew, arose, increased
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + वृध् (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

• गहने: in a dense thicket/forest
• गहने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गहन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अग्निः: fire
• अग्निः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: like, as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• उद्गतः: risen, sprung up
• Type: Verb
• Root: उद् + गम् (धातु)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (भूतकृदन्त)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pāṇḍu
• a youthful woman (unnamed in this verse)
• dense forest (gahana)
• fire/wildfire (agni)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how desire can arise suddenly and powerfully through sensory contact, suggesting the ethical need for vigilance and self-restraint (dama) so that impulse does not override dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that Pāṇḍu, upon seeing a youthful woman in a thin garment, is overcome by desire, compared to a wildfire erupting in a dense forest—an image that anticipates morally fraught action and its consequences.