Shloka 76
Duḥṣantasya Vana-praveśaḥ
King Duḥṣanta’s Entry into the Forest Hunt
त्वत्संयोगाच्च दुष्येत कन््याभावो ममानघ । कन्यात्वे दूषिते वापि कथं शक्ष्ये द्विजोत्तम,निष्पाप महर्ष!! आपके संयोगसे मेरा कनन््याभाव (कुमारीपन) दूषित हो जायगा। द्विजश्रेष्ठ) कन्याभाव दूषित हो जानेपर मैं कैसे अपने घर जा सकती हूँ। बुद्धिमान् मुनी श्वर! अपने कन्यापनके कलंकित हो जानेपर मैं जीवित रहना नहीं चाहती। भगवन्! इस बातपर भलीभाँति विचार करके जो उचित जान पड़े, वह कीजिये
tvat-saṃyogāc ca duṣyeta kanyābhāvo mamānagha | kanyātve dūṣite vāpi kathaṃ śakṣye dvijottama niṣpāpa maharṣe ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O sinless one, through union with you my state as an unmarried maiden would be tainted. If my maidenhood is thus compromised, how could I return home, O best of twice-born? O blameless great seer—if the mark of lost maidenhood falls upon me, I do not wish to go on living. Lord, reflect well on this and do what you judge to be right.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of social reputation and sexual propriety in the epic’s world: a woman’s perceived chastity is treated as decisive for her social standing and even her will to live, prompting an appeal to the sage’s discernment (dharma-buddhi) to find a righteous course.
A maiden, speaking to a brahmin seer, fears that any union with him will ‘taint’ her maidenhood and make returning home impossible; she expresses despair and urges him to deliberate and decide what is proper, while Vaiśampāyana frames the exchange as narrator.