Shloka 13
Parṇāda’s Report; Bāhuka’s Counsel; Damayantī’s Strategic Svayaṃvara Message (अध्याय ६८)
विदर्भसरसस्तस्माद् दैवदोषादिवोद्धताम् । मलपड्कानुलिप्ताजुीं मृणालीमिव चोद्धृताम्,विदर्भरूपी सरोवरसे यह कमलिनी मानो प्रारब्धके दोषसे निकाल ली गयी है। इसके मलिन अंग कीचड़ लिपटी हुई नलिनीके समान प्रतीत होते हैं। यह उस पूर्णिमाकी रजनीके समान जान पड़ती है, जिसके चन्द्रमापर मानो राहुने ग्रहण लगा रखा हो। पति-शोकसे व्याकुल और दीन होनेके कारण यह सूखे जल-प्रवाहवाली सरिताके समान प्रतीत होती है
vidarbhasarasas tasmād daivadoṣād ivoddhatām | malapaṅkānuliptāṅgīṁ mṛṇālīm iva coddhṛtām ||
Disse Yudhiṣṭhira: “Do lago de Vidarbha ela parece, por assim dizer, ter sido arrancada por uma falha do destino—como um talo de lótus puxado para fora, com os membros besuntados de lama e lodo. Assim ela se mostra: tirada de seu lugar próprio, maculada pelo sofrimento e tornada digna de pena pela força da sorte adversa.”
युदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how adverse destiny (daiva-doṣa) can uproot a person from their rightful place and dignity, urging the listener to respond with compassion rather than blame, and to recognize the ethical demand to protect the afflicted.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes a distressed woman (implied by the feminine forms) through a vivid simile: she is like a lotus-stalk dragged from a lake and smeared with mud—an image meant to convey her being forcibly displaced and made pitiable by misfortune.