Shloka 6

Devanagari script

मया शाल्वपति: पूर्व मनसाभिवृतो वर: । तेन चास्मि वृता पूर्व रहस्यविदिते पितु:,“मैंने अपने मनसे पहले शाल्वराजको अपना पति चुन लिया है और उन्होंने भी एकान्तमें मेरा वरण कर लिया है। यह पहलेकी बात है, जो मेरे पिताको भी ज्ञात नहीं है

Transliteration

mayā śālvapatiḥ pūrvaṁ manasābhivṛto varaḥ | tena cāsmi vṛtā pūrvaṁ rahasyavidite pituḥ ||

Translation

「わたしはすでに以前、心のうちでシャールヴァ王を夫と定めておりました。王もまた、かつて密かにわたしを受け入れてくださったのです――その約は秘され、父にさえ知られておりません。」

Word by Word

मयाby me

शाल्वपतिःthe lord/king of Śālva

पूर्वम्formerly, earlier

मनसाwith (my) mind

अभिवृतःchosen, selected

वरःas a husband (choice), bridegroom

तेनby him

चand

अस्मिI am

वृताchosen (by him)

पूर्वम्formerly, earlier

रहसिin secret, privately

अविदितेunknown (to)

पितुःof (my) father

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Śālva (Śālvapati, king of Śālva)

Father of the woman speaking (pituḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A prior personal choice and mutual acceptance create a moral claim that can conflict with later public or familial decisions; the verse foregrounds consent and the binding force of private promises, while also hinting at the social consequences of secrecy.

What is happening in the narrative?

A woman’s earlier, private commitment is being disclosed: she says she had mentally chosen the king of Śālva as her husband and that he had reciprocated, and that this was kept secret from her father—setting up a dispute about rightful marriage and responsibility.