Shloka 123

Kirmīra-rākṣasa-saṃgamaḥ (Encounter and Slaying of Kirmīra) | किर्मीरेण सह भीमसेनसमागमः

Devanagari script

स्तनावपतितौ पीनौ सुजातौ शुभलक्षणौ | अभ्यवर्षत पाज्चाली दुःखजैरश्रुबिन्दुभि:,पांचालराजकुमारी कृष्णा अपने कठोर, उभरे हुए, शुभलक्षण तथा सुन्दर स्तनोंपर दुःखजनित अभ्रुबिन्दुओंकी वर्षा करने लगी

Transliteration

stanāv apatितau pīnau sujātau śubhalakṣaṇau | abhyavarṣata pāñcālī duḥkhajair aśrubindubhiḥ ||

Translation

Pāñcālī (Draupadī), the princess of Pāñcāla, let fall a shower of tear-drops born of grief upon her full, well-formed breasts marked with auspicious signs—an image that underscores her vulnerability and the moral outrage of a righteous woman brought to suffering in the wilderness.

Word by Word

• {'stanau (स्तनौ)': 'the two breasts', 'apatitau (अपतितौ)': 'fallen upon

• (here) receiving/being wetted by', 'pīnau (पीनौ)': 'full, firm, swelling', 'sujātau (सुजातौ)': 'well-formed, beautifully shaped', 'śubha-lakṣaṇau (शुभलक्षणौ)': 'bearing auspicious marks

• of good signs', 'abhyavarṣata (अभ्यवर्षत)': 'rained upon

• showered (with)', 'pāñcālī (पाञ्चाली)': 'the lady of Pāñcāla

• Draupadī', 'duḥkha-jaiḥ (दुःखजैः)': 'born of sorrow', 'aśru-bindu-bhiḥ (अश्रुबिन्दुभिः)': 'with drops of tears'}

Speaker

राक्षस उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Pāñcālī (Draupadī/Kṛṣṇā)
• Pāñcāla (as implied by the epithet pāñcālī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse evokes the ethical weight of unjust suffering: even one endowed with auspicious signs and royal dignity can be reduced to grief by adharma, reminding the listener that righteousness must protect the vulnerable and that wrongdoing leaves deep moral wounds.

What is happening in the narrative?

Draupadī (Pāñcālī) is overwhelmed by sorrow and weeps; the poet describes her tears falling upon her bosom, heightening the scene’s emotional intensity and signaling the distress that drives subsequent speech and action in the forest episode.