Mahabharata 3.147.3 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 147, Shloka 3

Bhīmasena–Hanūmān Saṃvāda: The Tail Test and the Divine Path

Devanagari script

तदवैक्षत पाञ्चाली दिव्यगन्धं॑ मनोरमम्‌ । अनिलेनाहतं भूमौ पतितं जलजं शुचि

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: tad avaikṣata pāñcālī divyagandhaṃ manoramam | anilenāhataṃ bhūmau patitaṃ jalajaṃ śuci, janamejaya |

Translation

ജനമേജയാ! പാഞ്ചാലി ദ്രൗപദി ദിവ്യസുഗന്ധമുള്ള മനോഹരമായ ആ പദ്മം കണ്ടു—കാറ്റിന്റെ പ്രഹരത്തിൽ ഭൂമിയിൽ വീണുകിടന്ന ആ ജലജപുഷ്പം ശുദ്ധവും ശുഭവും ആയിരുന്നു.

Word by Word

• {'tad': 'then

• that (at that moment)', 'avaikṣata': 'she saw

• she beheld', 'pāñcālī': 'the lady of Pāñcāla

• Draupadī', 'divya-gandham': 'having divine fragrance

• celestial-scented', 'manoramam': 'charming

• beautiful', 'anilena': 'by the wind', 'āhatam': 'struck

• impelled', 'bhūmau': 'on the ground

• upon the earth', 'patitam': 'fallen

• dropped', 'jalajam': 'water-born

• lotus', 'śuci': 'pure

• sacred', 'janamejaya': 'O Janamejaya (address to the listener-king)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Janamejaya
• Pāñcālī (Draupadī)
• Anila (wind)
• Jalaja (lotus)
• Saugandhika lotus (implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights attentiveness to auspicious signs and the pull of desire toward rare, beautiful objects; ethically, it sets up the need to balance longing with discernment, since such attractions can lead to trials that test dharma and self-control.

What is happening in the narrative?

Draupadī notices a pure, divinely fragrant lotus that the wind has blown down to the ground. Delighted, she approaches it, and this sight becomes the immediate trigger for her to address Bhīma, leading into the well-known Saugandhika-lotus quest.