Shloka 17
पराशरस्य राक्षससत्रनिवृत्तिः | Paraśara’s Rakṣasa-Satra and Its Cessation
प्रीतिसंयोगयुक्ताभिरद्धि: प्रह्लादयस्व मे । पुष्पायुध॑ दुराधर्ष प्रचण्डशरकार्मुकम्,“मैं सर्वथा तुम्हारे अधीन हूँ, मुझपर प्रसन्न हो जाओ। महानुभावे! मुझ भक्तको अंगीकार करो। वरारोहे! विशाल नेत्रोंवाली अंगने! जबसे मैंने तुम्हें देखा है, तभीसे कामदेव मेरे अन्तः:करणको अपने बाणोंद्वारा घायल कर रहा है। कमललोचने! तुम प्रेमपूर्वक समागमके जलसे मेरे कामाग्निजनित दाहको बुझाकर मुझे आह्वाद प्रदान करो। कल्याणि! तुम्हारे दर्शनसे उत्पन्न हुआ कामदेव फूलोंके आयुध लेकर भी अत्यन्त दुर्धर्ष हो रहा है। उसके धनुष और बाण दोनों ही बड़े प्रचण्ड हैं। वह अपने दुस्सह बाणोंसे मुझे बींध रहा है। महानुभावे! तुम आत्मदान देकर मेरे उस कामको शान्त करो
prītisaṃyogayuktābhir addhiḥ prahlādayasva me | puṣpāyudha durādharṣa pracaṇḍaśarakārmukam ||
The Gandharva said: “With the delight of loving union, please gladden me. O Flower-weaponed Love, hard to resist, has become fierce—his bow and arrows are terrible.” In context, the speaker is overwhelmed by kāma (desire) and frames his plea as a request for relief from the burning caused by Cupid’s arrows. Ethically, the passage foregrounds the tension between passion and restraint: the Gandharva seeks gratification as a remedy for desire, a stance that later narrative developments in the Ādi Parva often test against dharma, consent, and rightful conduct.
गन्धर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse dramatizes how desire can overpower the mind and senses, portraying kāma as an external force with ‘bow and arrows.’ In the Mahābhārata’s ethical landscape, such imagery invites reflection on self-control and the need to align attraction with dharma—especially regarding propriety and consent.
A Gandharva addresses the beloved, pleading to be pleased through loving union, while describing Kāma (Puṣpāyudha) as fiercely tormenting him with arrows—an idiom for intense erotic longing and inner agitation.