Shloka 10
दमयन्तीवाक्य-प्रेषणम्
Damayantī’s Message and the Dispatch of Brahmin Envoys
क्व नु सा क्षुत्पिपासार्ता श्रान्ता शेते तपस्विनी । स्मरन्ती तस्य मन्दस्य कं वा साद्योपतिष्ठति,'भूख-प्याससे पीड़ित और थकी-माँदी वह तपस्विनी उस मन्दबुद्धि पुरुषका स्मरण करती हुई कहाँ सोती होगी तथा अब वह किसके समीप रहती होगी?”
kva nu sā kṣutpipāsārtā śrāntā śete tapasvinī | smarantī tasya mandasya kaṃ vā sādyopatiṣṭhati ||
Bṛhadaśva said: 'Where indeed does that ascetic woman lie down now—tormented by hunger and thirst, worn out with fatigue—remembering that dull-witted man? And with whom does she now take refuge or stay close?'
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical concern for one who suffers—especially a vulnerable ascetic woman—showing how neglect and foolishness (mandatā) can lead to another’s hardship, and how compassion and responsibility are central to dharma.
Bṛhadaśva voices anxious inquiry about an ascetic woman’s present condition: exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, she is imagined as remembering a foolish man; the speaker wonders where she sleeps and with whom she is now staying or seeking refuge.