Shloka 12

Devanagari script

स कोटिकास्यं राजानमब्रवीत्‌ काममोहित: । कस्य त्वेषानवद्याज्री यदि वापि न मानुषी,उसने काममोहित होकर राजा कोटिकास्यसे कहा--“कोटिक! जरा जाकर पता तो लगाओ, यह सर्वागसुन्दरी किसकी स्त्री है? अथवा यह मनुष्यजातिकी स्त्री है भी या नहीं?

Transliteration

sa koṭikāsyaṁ rājānam abravīt kāmamohitaḥ | kasya tveṣānavadyā strī yadi vāpi na mānuṣī ||

Translation

காமமயக்கத்தில் அவன் அரசன் கோடிகாச்யனை நோக்கி கூறினான்— “கோடிகா! சென்று விசாரி; குறையற்ற அங்கங்களையுடைய இந்தப் பேரழகி யாருடைய மனைவி? அல்லது இவள் மனிதப் பெண்ணே அல்லவோ?”

Word by Word

सःhe

कोटिकास्यंKotikāsya (the one with a crooked/awry mouth; a proper name/epithet)

राजानम्king

अब्रवीत्said, spoke

काममोहितःdeluded by desire

कस्यof whom

तुbut/indeed

एषाthis (woman)

अनवद्याज्रीfaultless/irreproachable woman (lady)

यदिif

वाor

अपिalso/even

नnot

मानुषीhuman (female)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Koṭikāsya

Koṭika

the unnamed woman (anavadyā strī)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how kāma (desire) can cloud judgment (moha), prompting a person to objectify another and disregard ethical restraint; it implicitly warns that unchecked desire leads to morally risky curiosity and action.

What is happening in the narrative?

A man, infatuated by a woman’s beauty, speaks to King Koṭikāsya and asks him to investigate whose wife she is, even wondering whether she is human—setting up a situation where desire-driven inquiry may lead to conflict or wrongdoing.