Shloka 73
Saṃśaptaka-Varūthinī Saṅgrāma — Binding and Counter-Binding (संशप्तक-वरूथिनी-संग्रामः)
श्यामानां निष्ककण्ठीनां गीतवाद्यविपश्चिताम् । “यदि अर्जुनका पता बतानेवाला पुरुष उस धनको पूरा न समझे तो उसे दूसरा सोनेका बना हुआ रथ प्रदान करूँगा जिसमें हाथीके समान हृष्ट-पुष्ट छः बैल जुते होंगे। साथ ही उसे वस्त्राभूषणोंसे विभूषित सौ ऐसी स्त्रियाँ दूँगा, जो श्यामा (सोलह वर्षकी अवस्थावाली), सुवर्णमय कण्ठहारसे अलंकृत तथा गाने-बजानेकी कलामें विदुषी होंगी
śyāmānāṁ niṣkakaṇṭhīnāṁ gītavādyavipaścitām |
Sañjaya berkata: “(Dia menjanjikan) gadis-gadis berkulit gelap, berhias kalung emas, dan mahir dalam nyanyian serta permainan alat muzik.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how worldly incentives—wealth, luxury, and sensual rewards—can be deployed to drive behavior, contrasting with the Mahābhārata’s broader insistence that right action should be grounded in dharma rather than in greed or coercive inducement.
Sañjaya reports a proclamation of lavish rewards: young women adorned with gold and trained in music are promised as part of an incentive for someone connected with revealing or securing information about Arjuna (as indicated by the surrounding prose context in the Gītā Press edition).