Mahabharata 3.71.7 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 71, Shloka 7
Rathaghoṣa–Saṃjñāna: Damayantī’s Inference and the Dispatch of the Envoy (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 71)
मम शोकेन संविग्ना नैराश्यात् तनुमध्यमा । नैवं सा कर्हिचित् कुर्यात् सापत्या च विशेषत:
mama śokena saṃvignā nairāśyāt tanumadhyamā | naivaṃ sā karhicit kuryāt sāpatyā ca viśeṣataḥ ||
ബൃഹദശ്വൻ പറഞ്ഞു— എന്റെ ദുഃഖം മൂലം ആ തനുമധ്യമയായവൾ അത്യന്തം വിറങ്ങലിച്ച്, നിരാശയിൽ അത്തരമൊരു ചിന്തയിൽ എത്തിയിരിക്കാം. എങ്കിലും അവൾ ഒരിക്കലും അങ്ങനെ ചെയ്യില്ലെന്ന് എന്റെ ഹൃദയം പറയുന്നു—പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് അവൾ സന്താനവതിയാകയാൽ.
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical judgment grounded in character and responsibility: even if despair can push someone toward harmful decisions, a person bound by maternal duty and established virtue is not easily presumed to act wrongly. It cautions against hasty suspicion and emphasizes the stabilizing force of familial responsibility.
Bṛhadaśva reflects on a woman’s possible reaction to his sorrow and prolonged separation. He concedes she may have been overwhelmed and hopeless, yet he rejects the idea that she would commit the implied wrongful act, reasoning that her nature—and especially her status as a mother—makes such conduct unlikely.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.