Previous Verse
Next Verse

Shloka 14

Adhyaya 1Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds

कस्माच्च पाण्डुपुत्राणामेका सा द्रुपदात्मजा ।

पञ्चानां महीषी कृष्णा ह्यत्र नः संशयो महान् ॥

kasmācca pāṇḍuputtrāṇām ekā sā drupadātmajā /

pañcānāṃ mahīṣī kṛṣṇā hy atra naḥ saṃśayo mahān

Dan mengapakah puteri tunggal Drupada—Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)—menjadi permaisuri kepada kelima-lima putera Pāṇḍu? Tentang hal ini, kami menaruh keraguan yang besar.

kasmātfrom what (cause)?
kasmāt:
Hetu/Apādāna (हेतु/अपादान)
TypeNoun
Rootkim (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular; interrogative pronoun used adverbially
caand
ca:
Avyaya (अव्यय)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootca (अव्यय)
FormConjunction (समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय)
pāṇḍu-putrāṇāmof the sons of Pāṇḍu
pāṇḍu-putrāṇām:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
TypeNoun
Rootpāṇḍu (प्रातिपदिक) + putra (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; "sons of Pāṇḍu"
ekāone (single)
ekā:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rooteka (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; numeral adjective
she
:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Roottad (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; demonstrative pronoun
drupada-ātmajāDrupada’s daughter
drupada-ātmajā:
Karta (कर्ता) (appositional to sā)
TypeNoun
Rootdrupada (प्रातिपदिक) + ātmajā (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; "daughter of Drupada"
pañcānāmof the five
pañcānām:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
TypeNoun
Rootpañcan (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; numeral used substantively
mahīṣīqueen / chief wife
mahīṣī:
Viśeṣya/Pradhāna (विशेष्य/प्रधान) (predicate complement)
TypeNoun
Rootmahīṣī (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; predicate noun
kṛṣṇāKṛṣṇā (Draupadī)
kṛṣṇā:
Karta (कर्ता) (appositional)
TypeNoun
Rootkṛṣṇā (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; proper name (Draupadī)
hiindeed / for
hi:
Avyaya (अव्यय)
TypeIndeclinable
Roothi (अव्यय)
FormParticle (निपात), emphatic/causal
atrahere / in this matter
atra:
Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण) (locative sense)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootatra (अव्यय)
FormAdverb (देशवाचक अव्यय)
naḥof us / our
naḥ:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
TypeNoun
Rootasmad (प्रातिपदिक)
FormGenitive (6th/षष्ठी) or Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Plural; enclitic pronoun; here genitive "of us"
saṃśayaḥdoubt
saṃśayaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता) (of implied "asti")
TypeNoun
Rootsaṃśaya (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular
mahāngreat
mahān:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootmahat (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; adjective qualifying saṃśayaḥ
Frame inquiry: Jaimini (questioner) to Mārkaṇḍeya (responder)

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Itihasa linkage (Mahabharata)Dharma and social order (marriage norms and exceptions)Karma and destiny (implicit causal inquiry)Genealogical/royal narratives

FAQs

The verse foregrounds a dharmic problem: an apparent exception to ordinary marital norms (one woman as consort of five brothers). The ethical thrust is not to sensationalize the event but to ask for its causal and dharmic justification—implying that extraordinary outcomes in Itihāsa are to be understood through dharma, prior causes (karma), and divine/ritual contexts rather than mere social judgment.

This verse is not directly sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita in itself; it functions as a framing question that typically introduces vaṃśānucarita/ākhyāna material (dynastic and exemplary narratives). In pancalakṣaṇa terms, it is best cataloged as leading into vaṃśānucarita (accounts of royal lineages and notable deeds) rather than cosmological creation cycles.

Symbolically, the question points to the tension between ‘one’ and ‘many’ in dharmic life: a single śakti-like royal presence (Draupadī as kṛṣṇā) shared among five embodiments of fraternal unity. Esoterically, later traditional readings often treat the Pāṇḍavas as a coordinated set of functions (virtues/powers) and Draupadī as the central integrating principle whose ‘shared’ marriage signifies the necessity of harmonizing multiple human faculties under one dharmic axis.