Shloka 206

Devanagari script

अज्ञातवासं गहन द्रौपदीशोकवर्धनम्‌ । “तुम वह पुराना वैर, वह बारह वर्षोका वनवास और द्रौपदीके शोकको बढ़ानेवाला एक वर्षका गहन अज्ञातवास सहसा भूल कैसे गये?

Transliteration

ajñātavāsaṃ gahanaṃ draupadī-śoka-vardhanam |

Translation

వైశంపాయనుడు అన్నాడు—ఆ పాత వైరం, పన్నెండు సంవత్సరాల వనవాసం, ద్రౌపదీ శోకాన్ని మరింత పెంచిన ఆ ఘోరమైన ఒక సంవత్సరపు అజ్ఞాతవాసం—ఇవన్నీ నీవు అకస్మాత్తుగా ఎలా మరిచిపోయావు?

Word by Word

• अज्ञातवासम्: the (period of) living incognito
• अज्ञातवासम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अज्ञातवास
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• गहनम्: difficult, arduous
• गहनम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गहन
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• द्रौपदीशोकवर्धनम्: increasing Draupadī’s sorrow
• द्रौपदीशोकवर्धनम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्रौपदीशोकवर्धन
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Draupadī
• Pāṇḍavas (implied by the exile and incognito year)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses moral accountability through remembrance: past wrongs, vows, and hardships should not be dismissed lightly. Forgetting the long exile and the painful incognito year—especially the suffering inflicted on Draupadī—signals ethical negligence and a failure to acknowledge consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker (Vaiśampāyana) recalls the Pāṇḍavas’ prolonged hardships—twelve years of forest exile and the dangerous thirteenth year in disguise—highlighting how these experiences deepened Draupadī’s sorrow and were rooted in an old feud. The line functions as a pointed reminder that such history cannot be ‘suddenly forgotten’ in later reflection.