Shloka 35
Keśinī’s Inquiry to Bāhuka and the Emotional Signs of Concealed Identity (केशिन्याः बाहुकपरीक्षा)
अवसं त्वयि राजेन्द्र सुदुः:खमपराजित । विषेण नागराजस्य दहा[मानो दिवानिशम्,“किसीसे पराजित न होनेवाले महाराज! मैं आपके शरीरमें अत्यन्त दु:खित होकर रहता था। नागराज कर्कोटकके विषसे मैं दिन-रात झुलसता जा रहा था (इस प्रकार मुझे अपने कियेका कठोर दण्ड मिल गया है)
Bṛhadaśva uvāca: avasaṃ tvayi rājendra suduḥkham aparājita | viṣeṇa nāgarājasya daha[m]āno divāniśam ||
Bṛhadaśva disse: “Ó rei dos homens, invencível, eu habitava em ti em extrema aflição. Queimado dia e noite pelo veneno do rei das serpentes, eu era chamuscado—assim recebia dura paga pelo meu próprio feito.”
बृहदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds karmic consequence: harmful or misguided actions return as suffering, and enduring that suffering becomes a form of moral recompense and purification.
Bṛhadaśva explains to the king he addresses (Nala in the Nala–Damayantī episode) that he had been residing within him while being continually scorched by the venom of the serpent-king (Karkoṭaka), interpreting this torment as the severe penalty for his own prior act.