Shloka 55
Sudeva Identifies Damayantī in Cedi (सुदेवेन दमयन्ती-परिचयः)
मानुषीं मां विजानीहि भर्तारं समनुव्रताम् सैरन्ध्रीजातिसम्पन्नां भुजिष्यां कामवासिनीम्
mānuṣīṁ māṁ vijānīhi bhartāraṁ samanuvratām | sairandhrījātisampannāṁ bhujisyāṁ kāmavāsinīm ||
彼女は言った。「どうか私をただの人の娘と思ってください。私は夫に貞しく従う女です。私はサイランドリー（sairandhrī――婦人に仕える術に長けた侍女）の身分に属し、他人に依りて生きる下女、主人の意のままに暮らす者です。」
बृहदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma through self-description: a woman presents herself as devoted to her husband and willing to accept a dependent role. It highlights ideals of fidelity (samanuvratā) and the ethical posture of humility and restraint while living under another’s authority.
A speaker identifies herself as a mortal woman of the sairandhrī type—an attendant/maid—emphasizing her dependent status and that she lives according to others’ wishes. This functions as a social positioning (and often, in the epic’s narrative texture, a way to explain one’s place and safety within a household).