Shloka 12

Devanagari script

सुवृत्तोरुकटीजड्घं सुपादं स्वड्गुलीनखम्‌ | स्मृत्वा स्मृत्वैव तु गुणान्‌ धात्रा यत्नाद्‌ विनिर्मितम्‌

Transliteration

suvṛttorukaṭījaḍghaṃ supādaṃ svaṅgulīnakhām | smṛtvā smṛtvaiva tu guṇān dhātrā yatnād vinirmitām

Translation

ສັນຊະຍະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ນາງມີຂາອ່ອນກົມງາມ, ສະໂພກກວ້າງ, ແລະແຂ້ງຂາທີ່ໝັ້ນແນ່ນ; ຕີນງາມ ມີນິ້ວຕີນແລະເລັບທີ່ປະນີດ. ເມື່ອລະລຶກຊ້ຳໆເຖິງຄຸນຄ່າຂອງນາງ ກໍເຫັນຄືວ່ານາງຖືກຜູ້ສ້າງປັ້ນແຕ່ງດ້ວຍຄວາມພາກພຽນຢ່າງລະມັດລະວັງ».

Word by Word

सुवृत्तwell-rounded, well-formed

उरुकटीजड्घम्having broad hips and shanks

सुपादम्having fine feet

स्वङ्गुलीनखम्having fine fingers and nails

स्मृत्वाhaving remembered

स्मृत्वाhaving remembered (again and again)

एवindeed, just

तुbut, however

गुणान्qualities, virtues

धात्राby the Creator (Dhātṛ)

यत्नात्from/with effort, painstakingly

विनिर्मितम्fashioned, constructed

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhātṛ (the Creator)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links outer beauty with inner excellence: repeated remembrance of a person’s guṇas (virtues) deepens admiration beyond mere appearance, and frames excellence as something aligned with dhātṛ (providential order), encouraging reverence for cultivated virtue amid the harshness of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes an admired woman (implied from context) by detailing her graceful physical features and then emphasizing that her virtues, recalled again and again, make her seem as though the Creator carefully fashioned her—an encomium that heightens emotional and ethical contrast within the war narrative.