Shloka 55
Sudeva Identifies Damayantī in Cedi (सुदेवेन दमयन्ती-परिचयः)
मानुषीं मां विजानीहि भर्तारं समनुव्रताम् सैरन्ध्रीजातिसम्पन्नां भुजिष्यां कामवासिनीम्
mānuṣīṁ māṁ vijānīhi bhartāraṁ samanuvratām | sairandhrījātisampannāṁ bhujisyāṁ kāmavāsinīm ||
Ella dijo: «Sábeme por una mujer humana: una que sigue a su esposo con conducta fiel. Soy de la clase de las sairandhrī (doncellas diestras en el servicio de las mujeres), una sierva dependiente, que vive al gusto de otros.»
बृहदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma through self-description: a woman presents herself as devoted to her husband and willing to accept a dependent role. It highlights ideals of fidelity (samanuvratā) and the ethical posture of humility and restraint while living under another’s authority.
A speaker identifies herself as a mortal woman of the sairandhrī type—an attendant/maid—emphasizing her dependent status and that she lives according to others’ wishes. This functions as a social positioning (and often, in the epic’s narrative texture, a way to explain one’s place and safety within a household).