Shloka 12
ययाति–शक्रसंवादः
Speech-Ethics and Forbearance in the Celestial Court
शर्मिष्ोवाच सोमस्येन्द्रस्य विष्णोर्वा यमस्य वरुणस्य च । तव वा नाहुष गृहे कः स्त्रियं द्रष्टमहति,शर्मिष्ठाने कहा--नहुषनन्दन! चन्द्रमा, इन्द्र, विष्णु, यम, वरुण अथवा आपके महलमें कौन किसी स्त्रीकी ओर दृष्टि डाल सकता है? (अतएव यहाँ मैं सर्वथा सुरक्षित हूँ) महाराज! मेरे रूप, कुल और शील कैसे हैं, यह तो आप सदासे ही जानते हैं। मैं आज आपको प्रसन्न करके यह प्रार्थना करती हूँ कि मुझे ऋतुदान दीजिये--मेरे ऋतुकालको सफल बनाइये
śarmiṣṭhovāca somasyendrasya viṣṇor vā yamasya varuṇasya ca | tava vā nāhuṣa gṛhe kaḥ striyaṃ draṣṭum arhati | mahārāja mama rūpa-kula-śīlāni kīdṛśāni iti tvaṃ sadāiva jānāsi | adya tvāṃ prasādya prārthaye ṛtudānaṃ me dehi—mama ṛtukālaṃ saphalaṃ kuru ||
Śarmiṣṭhā said: “Whether it be the Moon, Indra, Viṣṇu, Yama, or Varuṇa—or in your own palace, O Nahūṣa—who would dare cast his eyes upon another man’s woman? Therefore I am wholly safe here. O king, you have long known what my beauty, lineage, and conduct are. Today I seek to please you and make this request: grant me the gift due in the season of fertility—make my fertile time bear fruit.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse appeals to dharma as social restraint: even powerful beings should not violate the protection owed to a woman under a man’s household. It also shows how desire is framed within accepted norms—requesting sanctioned union at the proper time (ṛtukāla) rather than illicit conduct.
Śarmiṣṭhā addresses King Nahūṣa, asserting that in his palace she is safe from improper attention, and then petitions him to grant her ṛtudāna—conjugal access during her fertile period—invoking her known beauty, lineage, and character to persuade him.