Shloka 17

Devanagari script

आश्यां तु पाश्वे कनकोत्तमाड़ी यैषा प्रभा मूर्तिमतीव गौरी | नीलोत्पलाभा सुरदेवतेव कृष्णा स्थिता मूर्तिमतीव लक्ष्मी:,इन दोनोंके बगलमें ये जो तेजस्विनी देवी मूर्तिमती गौरीके समान खड़ी हैं, जिनके उत्तम अंगोंसे सुनहरी छटा छिटक रही है, जिनकी कान्ति नीलकमलकी आभाको लज्जित कर रही है तथा जो देवताओंकी भी देवी और साकाररूपमें प्रकट हुई लक्ष्मीके समान शोभा पा रही हैं, ये ही ट्रपदकुमारी महारानी कृष्णा हैं

Transliteration

āsyāṃ tu pārśve kanakottamāṅgī yaiṣā prabhā mūrtimatīva gaurī | nīlotpalābhā suradevateva kṛṣṇā sthitā mūrtimatīva lakṣmīḥ ||

Translation

Uttara dijo: «Y a su lado está de pie esta dama radiante, cuyos miembros excelentes destellan con un fulgor dorado—como si Gaurī misma se hubiera encarnado. Su hermosura eclipsa el tono del loto azul; parece la diosa de los dioses, como Lakṣmī hecha manifiesta. Ella es Kṛṣṇā, la princesa de Drupada.»

Word by Word

आस्याम्in/at this (woman)

तुbut/indeed

पार्श्वेat the side

कनकोत्तमाङ्गीshe whose excellent limbs are golden (gold-limbed)

याwho

एषाthis (woman)

प्रभाsplendour, radiance

मूर्तिमतीembodied, having form

इवlike, as if

गौरीGaurī (Pārvatī)

नीलोत्पलाभाhaving the lustre of a blue lotus

सुरदेवताgoddess of the gods

इवlike, as if

कृष्णाKṛṣṇā (Draupadī)

स्थिताstanding, stationed

मूर्तिमतीembodied, in visible form

इवlike, as if

लक्ष्मीःLakṣmī (Fortune-goddess)

Speaker

उत्तर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Uttara

Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)

Gaurī (Pārvatī)

Lakṣmī

blue lotus (nīlotpala)

gold (kanaka)

Drupada (implied by ‘Drupada’s daughter’)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse models reverent speech and ethical recognition: true nobility is shown by honoring virtue and auspicious presence in others. By likening Draupadī to Gaurī and Lakṣmī, the speaker frames her not as an object of desire but as a dignified, almost sacred embodiment of śrī (auspiciousness) and moral stature.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Virāṭa episode, Uttara identifies and praises the woman standing nearby as Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī), describing her extraordinary radiance through divine comparisons (Gaurī, Lakṣmī) and poetic imagery (golden luster, blue-lotus hue).