Shloka 13

Draupadī-apaharaṇa-saṃdeśaḥ

Report of Draupadī’s Abduction and the Pāṇḍavas’ Pursuit

Devanagari script

युधि सम्प्रहरिष्यन्तो मोक्ष्यन्ति कुरुसत्तम | निः:स्नेहा दानवाविष्टा: समाक्रान्तेडन्तरात्मनि

Transliteration

yudhi samprahariṣyanto mokṣyanti kurusattama | niḥsnehā dānavāviṣṭāḥ samākrānte ’ntarātmani ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: «О лучший из куру, когда они будут готовы сойтись в битве, они обрушат оружие. Лишённые естественной привязанности, одержимые данавами, они пойдут вперёд, даже когда внутреннее “я” будет подавлено.»

Word by Word

युधिin battle

सम्प्रहरिष्यन्तःthey will strike/attack

मोक्ष्यन्तिthey will release/let loose

कुरु-सत्तमO best of the Kurus

निःस्नेहाःaffectionless, without attachment

दानव-आविष्टाःpossessed by demons

समाक्रान्तेwhen/where (it is) overrun/assailed

अन्तरात्मनिin the inner self/mind

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kurus (Kuru lineage)

Dānavas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how violence escalates when compassion and inner discernment are eclipsed: when the heart is ‘overrun’ and one is driven by demonic impulses, ethical restraint collapses and battle becomes an expression of inner disorder.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes combatants poised to strike and release their weapons, portraying them as lacking affection and acting under a ‘demonic’ sway—an interpretive frame that explains ruthless conduct in war as arising from inner possession and loss of self-mastery.