Shloka 36

Devanagari script

सती दमयन्तीके तेजसे पापी व्याधका विनाश स तु पापमति): क्षुद्र: प्रधर्षयितुमातुर: । दुर्धर्षा तर्कयामास दीप्तामग्निशिखामिव,यद्यपि वह नीच पापात्मा व्याध उसपर बलात्कार करनेके लिये व्याकुल हो गया था, परंतु दमयन्ती अग्निशिखाकी भाँति उद्दीप्त हो रही थी; अतः उसका स्पर्श करना उसको अत्यन्त दुष्कर प्रतीत हुआ

Transliteration

bṛhadaśva uvāca | satī damayantī tejasā pāpī vyādhaḥ vināśaṃ gataḥ sa tu pāpamatī kṣudraḥ pradharṣayitum āturaḥ | durdharṣāṃ tām atarkayad dīptām agniśikhām iva |

Translation

Bṛhadaśva said: Though the vile hunter, driven by sinful intent, became frantic to violate the chaste Damayantī, her radiant purity blazed like a flame. Seeing her as one would a blazing tongue of fire, he found even the thought of touching her unbearably difficult—his wickedness recoiling before her moral and spiritual power.

Word by Word

• {'satī': 'a chaste, virtuous woman

• one steadfast in fidelity and dharma', 'damayantī': 'Damayantī (Nala’s wife), exemplar of chastity and endurance', 'tejasā': 'by spiritual radiance, inner splendor, moral power', 'pāpī / pāpamatī': 'sinful

• of wicked intention', 'vyādhaḥ': 'hunter', 'kṣudraḥ': 'base, petty, mean-minded', 'pradharṣayitum': 'to violate, assault, outrage (sexually dishonor)', 'āturaḥ': 'agitated, desperate, frantic', 'durdharṣā': 'hard to assail

• unassailable', 'tarkayāmāsa / atarkayat': 'he considered, judged, perceived', 'dīptā': 'blazing, shining intensely', 'agniśikhā': 'flame-tongue

• a tongue of fire', 'iva': 'like, as if'}

Speaker

ब॒हृदश्चव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bṛhadaśva
• Damayantī
• vyādha (hunter)
• agniśikhā (flame)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores that adharma—especially sexual violence—meets moral resistance: a person grounded in satītva (chastity/virtue) is portrayed as protected by tejas, an inner radiance that repels wicked intent and makes wrongdoing psychologically and spiritually untenable.

What is happening in the narrative?

A hunter, inflamed by lust and sin, attempts to assault Damayantī. Yet her blazing spiritual presence is likened to a tongue of fire, and he finds her impossible to touch—his assaultive impulse falters before her unassailable virtue.