Shloka 5

Devanagari script

न होवं शीलसम्पन्ना नैवं पूजितलक्षणा: । प्राप्तुवन्ति चिरं क्लेशं यथा त्वमसितेक्षणे,'श्यामलोचने! तुम्हें जैसा क्लेश सहन करना पड़ा है, वैसा कष्ट तुम्हारे-जैसी सुशीला तथा श्रेष्ठ लक्षणोंवाली देवियाँ अधिक दिनोंतक नहीं भोगा करती हैं

Transliteration

na hovaṁ śīlasampannā naivaṁ pūjitalakṣaṇāḥ | prāptuvanti ciraṁ kleśaṁ yathā tvam asitekṣaṇe śyāmalocane ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Women endowed with good conduct and honored for their auspicious qualities do not usually have to endure suffering for long. Yet you—dark-eyed, with lovely dark glances—have borne a distress as prolonged as it is undeserved.”

Word by Word

नnot

होindeed/alas (exclamation)

एवंthus/in this way

शीलसम्पन्नाःendowed with good conduct

नnot

एवंthus/in this way

पूजितलक्षणाःhaving honored/auspicious marks

प्राप्तुवन्तिattain/undergo

चिरम्for a long time

क्लेशम्distress/suffering

यथाas/just as

त्वम्you

असितेक्षणेO dark-eyed one

श्यामलोचनेO dark-eyed one

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

asitekṣaṇā (dark-eyed woman, vocative)

śyāmalocanā (dark-eyed woman, vocative)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a moral tension: virtue and honored qualities do not guarantee freedom from prolonged suffering. It evokes compassion and invites reflection on dharma amid adversity—how the righteous may still be tested by circumstances beyond merit.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses a woman described as dark-eyed, remarking that women of good conduct and revered qualities typically do not endure long affliction, yet she has suffered greatly and for a long time—underscoring the exceptional harshness of her ordeal.