Shloka 18
पराशरस्य राक्षससत्रनिवृत्तिः | Paraśara’s Rakṣasa-Satra and Its Cessation
त्वद्दर्शनसमुद्धूतं विध्यन्तं दुस्सहैः शरै: । उपशामय कल्याणि आत्मदानेन भाविनि,“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
tvaddarśanasamuddhūtaṃ vidhyantaṃ duḥsahaiḥ śaraiḥ | upaśāmaya kalyāṇi ātmadānena bhāvini ||
The Gandharva said: “O auspicious lady, since the moment I beheld you, desire—aroused by your very sight—has been piercing me with unbearable arrows. Compassionate one, calm this torment by granting yourself in love. Accept me, who has become your supplicant; let our union quench the burning fire of passion that now overwhelms my inner being.”
गन्धर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse dramatizes the overpowering force of kāma (desire) and the classical poetic metaphor of love as ‘arrows’ that wound the heart. Ethically, it highlights persuasion in love and implicitly raises the question of consent: the speaker seeks acceptance and relief through the woman’s willing self-gift, not through coercion.
A Gandharva, struck by love upon seeing the woman, pleads that her beauty has awakened intense desire that ‘pierces’ him. He asks her to pacify his suffering by accepting him and uniting with him, framing his request as supplication and devotion.