Shloka 12

ययाति-देवयानी-शर्मिष्ठा विवादः — Śukra’s Curse and the Disclosure of Lineage

Devanagari script

(प्रतिकूलं वदसि चेदितः प्रभृति याचकि । आकृष्य मम दासीक्िि: प्रस्थाप्यसि बहिर्बहि: ।।) भिक्षुकी! अबसे यदि मेरे विरुद्ध कोई बात कहेगी, तो अपनी दासियोंसे घसीटवाकर तुझे यहाँसे बाहर निकलवा दूँगी। वैशम्पायन उवाच समुच्छूयं देवयानीं गतां सक्तां च वाससि,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! देवयानीने सच्ची बातें कहकर अपनी उच्चता और महत्ता सिद्ध कर दी और शर्मिष्ठाके शरीरसे अपने वस्त्रको खींचने लगी। यह देख शर्मिष्ठाने उसे कुएँमें ढकेल दिया और अब यह मर गयी होगी, ऐसा समझकर पापमय विचारवाली शर्मिष्ठा नगरको लौट आयी

Transliteration

pratikūlaṃ vadasi ced itaḥ prabhṛti yācaki | ākṛṣya mama dāsīkāḥ prastāpyasi bahir bahiḥ || vaiśampāyana uvāca | samucchūyaṃ devayānīṃ gatāṃ saktāṃ ca vāsasi |

Translation

“Beggar-girl! If from this day onward you speak anything against me, I will have my maidservants drag you and drive you out—out from here.” Vaiśampāyana said: Seeing Devayānī swollen with pride, having asserted her superiority, and clinging to Śarmiṣṭhā’s garment, Śarmiṣṭhā, seized by sinful intent, pushed her into a well. Thinking, “Now she must be dead,” Śarmiṣṭhā returned to the city. The episode highlights how arrogance and harsh speech provoke retaliation, and how violence born of envy leads to grave wrongdoing.

Word by Word

प्रतिकूलम्hostile/contrary (speech)

वदसिyou speak

चेत्if

इतःfrom here / hence

प्रभृतिfrom (this time) onward

याचकिO beggar-woman / supplicant (female)

आकृष्यhaving dragged/pulled

ममof me / my

दासीभिःby (my) maidservants

प्रस्थापयासिyou will cause (someone) to be sent/expelled

बहिःoutside

बहिःoutside (emphatic repetition)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Janamejaya

Devayānī

Śarmiṣṭhā

maidservants (dāsīkāḥ)

garment (vāsas)

well (kūpa, implied by narrative)

city (nagara, implied by narrative)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Harsh, contemptuous speech and pride (mada) can trigger escalating retaliation; envy-driven violence becomes a grave moral fault. The passage warns that social humiliation and threats corrode dharma and lead to destructive consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Devayānī threatens Śarmiṣṭhā with humiliation and expulsion. In the ensuing conflict, Devayānī clings to Śarmiṣṭhā’s garment; Śarmiṣṭhā, angered and acting with sinful intent, pushes Devayānī into a well and returns to the city believing her dead.