Shloka 16

Parṇāda’s Report; Bāhuka’s Counsel; Damayantī’s Strategic Svayaṃvara Message (अध्याय ६८)

Devanagari script

सुकुमारी सुजाताज़ीं रत्नगर्भगृहोचिताम्‌ । दह्यमानामिवार्केण मृणालीमिव चोद्धृताम्‌,मनोहर अंगोंवाली यह सुकुमारी राजकन्या उन महलोंमें रहनेयोग्य है, जिनका भीतरी भाग रत्नोंका बना हुआ है। (इस समय दुः:खने इसे ऐसा दुर्बल कर दिया है कि) यह सरोवरसे निकाली और सूर्यकी किरणोंसे जलायी हुई कमलिनीके समान प्रतीत हो रही है

Transliteration

sukumārī sujātā ca ratnagarbhagṛhocitām | dahyamānām ivārkeṇa mṛṇālīm iva coddhṛtām ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “She is delicate and well-born, fit to dwell in palaces whose inner chambers are inlaid with jewels. Yet now, consumed as though by the sun’s heat, she appears like a lotus-stalk pulled up from the lake—withered by suffering.”

Word by Word

• {'sukumārī': 'delicate, tender (a young woman of soft constitution)', 'sujātā': 'well-born, of noble birth', 'ratna-garbha': 'having an interior filled/inlaid with gems

• jewel-lined', 'gṛha-ucitām': 'fit/suitable for a house (i.e., accustomed to palace life)', 'dahyamānām': 'being burned/tormented

• suffering intensely', 'iva': 'as if, like', 'arkeṇa': 'by the sun

• by sunlight/heat', 'mṛṇālīm': 'lotus-stalk

• lotus-fibre (symbol of fragility)', 'uddhṛtām': 'pulled out, drawn up (from water)', 'ca': 'and'}

Speaker

युदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• a royal maiden/princess (implied)
• sun (arka)
• lotus-stalk (mṛṇāla)
• lake/pond (implied by ‘pulled out’)