Shloka 22
Ruru–Pramadvarā: Lineage, Fosterage, Betrothal, and the Snakebite Crisis (Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 8)
प्रसुप्ते वाभवच्चापि भुवि सर्पविषार्दिता । भूयो मनोहरतरा बभूव तनुमध्यमा,वह सर्पके विषसे पीड़ित होकर गाढ़ निद्रामें सोयी हुईकी भाँति भूमिपर पड़ी थी। उसके शरीरका मध्यभाग अत्यन्त कृश था। वह उस अचेतनावस्थामें भी अत्यन्त मनोहारिणी जान पड़ती थी
prasupte vābhavac cāpi bhuvi sarpaviṣārdhitā | bhūyo manoharatarā babhūva tanumadhyamā ||
Śaunaka said: Struck by the poison of a serpent, she lay upon the ground as though sunk in deep sleep. Even in that senseless state, her slender-waisted form appeared all the more captivating—an image that heightens the pathos of her suffering and underscores the moral weight of harm done through heedlessness and violence.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse evokes compassion by portraying the vulnerability of a being harmed by poison; it implicitly cautions against causing suffering and highlights the ethical gravity of violence or negligence that leads to injury.
Śaunaka describes a woman lying on the ground, rendered unconscious as if asleep due to serpent poison, and notes that despite her condition she still appears strikingly beautiful, intensifying the scene’s tragic mood.