Shloka 216
Adhyāya 73: Damayantī’s Investigation of Bāhuka
Keśinī’s Observations
अकस्मात् सहसा प्राप्तं स्त्रीमन्त्रं न सम विन्दति । भूपाल ऋतुपर्ण रमणीय कुण्डिनपुरमें ठहर गये। उन्हें बार-बार देखनेपर भी वहाँ (स्वयंवर-जैसी) कोई चीज नहीं दिखायी दी। वे विदर्भनरेशसे मिलकर सहसा इस बातको न जान सके कि यह स्त्रियोंकी अकस्मात् गुप्त मन्त्रणामात्र थी
akasmāt sahasā prāptaṃ strīmantraṃ na sama vindati | bhūpāla ṛtuparṇa ramaṇīye kuṇḍinapure sthitavān | taṃ punaḥ punaḥ paśyann api tatra (svayaṃvara-sadṛśaṃ) kiṃcid api na dadarśa | sa vidarbha-nareśena saha sahasā na bubudhe yad etat strīṇām akasmāt gupta-mantraṇā-mātram iti |
Dijo Bṛhadaśva: «El consejo confidencial de las mujeres, cuando llega de improviso y con premura, no se comprende fácilmente en su sentido cabal. El rey Ṛtuparṇa se alojó en la deleitosa ciudad de Kuṇḍina. Por más que miró una y otra vez, no vio allí nada que se pareciera a un svayaṃvara ni a ninguna ocasión pública semejante. Aun después de entrevistarse con el rey de Vidarbha, no pudo captar de inmediato el asunto: no era más que una súbita y secreta deliberación de mujeres.»
बृहदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how sudden, private counsel—especially conducted in a concealed social sphere—can be difficult for outsiders to interpret. Ethically, it cautions against hasty conclusions based on incomplete signs and underscores the limits of perception when information is intentionally kept secret.
Ṛtuparṇa arrives and stays in Kuṇḍinapura, repeatedly looking for some public event like a svayaṃvara but finds no such visible occasion. Even after meeting the Vidarbha king, he cannot immediately understand that the matter at hand is merely a sudden, secret consultation among the women.