Shloka 15

Draupadī’s Rebuke of Jayadratha and Dhaumya’s Admonition (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 252)

Devanagari script

नैव भोगैश्षल मे कार्य मा विहन्यत गच्छत । निश्चितेयं मम मति: स्थिता प्रायोपवेशने

Transliteration

naiva bhogaiḥ śala me kārya mā vihanyata gacchata | niściteyaṃ mama matiḥ sthitā prāyopaveśane ||

Translation

「我には快楽など一切不要だ。妨げるな——行け。わが意志はすでに定まり、揺るがぬ。私は prāyopaveśana、すなわち死に至る断食の誓いに身を置く。」

Word by Word

नnot

एवindeed/just

भोगैःby/with enjoyments, pleasures

खलुindeed, surely

मेof me / my

कार्यम्need, purpose, business

माdo not (prohibitive)

विहन्यतharm/kill (you all); injure

गच्छतgo (you all)

निश्चितdetermined, resolved

इयम्this

ममof me / my

मतिःintention, resolve, mind

स्थिताfixed, set; established

प्रायोपवेशनेin fasting unto death (sitting down to die)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

prāyopaveśana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights steadfast resolve in a dharmic vow: when one has discerned a higher ethical or spiritual course, worldly pleasures (bhoga) are rejected, and one asks others not to obstruct the chosen discipline—here, prāyopaveśana (fasting unto death) as an extreme form of renunciation.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker declares that pleasures are of no use to him and instructs others to stop interfering and leave. He states that his mind is firmly decided on prāyopaveśana, indicating a decisive turn toward self-denial and a final vow rather than continued engagement with ordinary life.