Shloka 23
Kīcaka-vadha-pratisaṃjñā: Rumor in Matsya and the Kaurava Scouts’ Report (कीचकवध-प्रतिसंज्ञा)
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत विराटपर्वके अन्तर्गत कीचकवधपर्वमें तेईसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
bṛhannalovāca—bṛhannalāpi kalyāṇi duḥkham āproty anuttamam | tiryagyonigatā bāle na cainām avabudhyase ||
Bṛhannalā disse: “Ó jovem de bons auspícios, até eu—Bṛhannalā—caí numa condição de dor extrema. Tendo descido a um estado baixo, como o dos animais (uma condição degradada), tu ainda és inocente; por isso não compreendes de verdade quem eu sou.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of hidden suffering: a person may endure intense humiliation or hardship under a disguise or degraded condition, and outsiders—especially the innocent—may fail to recognize the depth of that pain or the person’s true identity.
Bṛhannalā (Arjuna in concealment during the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito year) speaks to a young woman, explaining that she too bears extreme suffering by being forced into a low, socially diminished condition, and that the listener does not yet understand her true situation/identity.