Shloka 17

मैत्रेयागमनम् — The Arrival of Maitreya and the Admonition to Duryodhana

Devanagari script

दुःशासनकरोत्सृष्टविप्रकीर्णशिरोरुहा । पज्चपर्वतमध्यस्था नदीवाकुलतां गता,दुःशासनके हाथोंसे खुले हुए उसके केश सब ओर बिखरे हुए थे। वह पाँच पर्वतोंके बीचमें पड़ी हुई नदीकी भाँति व्याकुल हो उठी

Transliteration

Duḥśāsana-karotsṛṣṭa-viprakīrṇa-śiroruhā | pañca-parvata-madhyasthā nadī-vyākulatāṃ gatā ||

Translation

ദുഃശാസന്റെ കൈകളാൽ അഴിച്ചുവിട്ട അവളുടെ മുടി എല്ലാടവും ചിതറിക്കിടന്നു. അഞ്ചു പർവതങ്ങൾക്കിടയിൽ കുടുങ്ങിയ നദിപോലെ അവൾ വ്യാകുലയായി.

Word by Word

दुःशासन-कर-उत्सृष्ट-विप्रकीर्ण-शिरोरुहाshe whose hair was let loose and scattered by Duḥśāsana’s hand

पञ्च-पर्वत-मध्यस्थाsituated between five mountains

नदी-इवlike a river

आकुलताम्agitation, distress

गताhad gone to / had become

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

Duḥśāsana

a dishonored woman (implicit; traditionally identified with Draupadī)

river (nadī)

five mountains (pañca-parvata)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse condemns adharma through vivid imagery: violating a woman’s dignity is not merely personal cruelty but a collapse of social and royal ethics. Vidura’s description functions as moral indictment—when power is used to dishonor the vulnerable, the polity itself becomes ‘agitated’ and obstructed like a river with no rightful course.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vidura recounts a scene of public humiliation in which Duḥśāsana forcibly loosens the woman’s hair, leaving it scattered. Her distress is compared to a river confined between five mountains, emphasizing her helplessness and the oppressive circumstances created by the perpetrators.