Shloka 25
Sudeva Identifies Damayantī in Cedi (सुदेवेन दमयन्ती-परिचयः)
अपरे त्वब्लुवन् दीना ज्ञातिद्रव्यविनाकृता: । यासावद्य महासार्थ नारी हरुन्मत्तदर्शना,दूसरे लोग जो अपने कुटुम्बीजनों और धनके विनाशसे दीन हो रहे थे, वे इस प्रकार कहने लगे--“आज हमारे विशाल जनसमूहके साथ वह जो उन्मत्त-जैसी दिखायी देनेवाली नारी आ गयी थी, वह विकराल आकारवाली राक्षसी थी तो भी अलौकिक सुन्दर रूप धारण करके हमारे दलमें घुस गयी थी। उसीने पहलेसे ही यह अत्यन्त भयंकर माया फैला रखी थी
apare tv abruvan dīnā jñāti-dravya-vinākṛtāḥ | yāsāv adya mahāsārtha nārī harunmatta-darśanā |
Then others, reduced to misery by the loss of their kinsmen and wealth, began to speak: “Today, within our great caravan, that woman who appeared as if mad came among us. Though she was a fearsome rākṣasī, she assumed an otherworldly beautiful form and slipped into our company. It was she who had already spread this exceedingly dreadful illusion.”
बृहदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how adharma often operates through disguise and māyā: destructive forces may enter a community by assuming an attractive or harmless appearance. Ethically, it warns against careless trust and urges discernment (viveka), especially when collective safety and dharma are at stake.
A group of people, devastated by the loss of relatives and wealth, identify the cause of their calamity: a woman who seemed deranged had joined their large caravan. They now claim she was actually a terrifying rākṣasī who took on a supernatural beauty and infiltrated them, having already cast a dreadful illusion over the group.