Shloka 23
Bhīma–Draupadī Saṃvāda on Restraint, Protection, and the Kīcaka Threat
Virāṭa-parva, Adhyāya 20
इदं तु दुः:खं कौन्तेय ममासहां निबोध तत् । यान जातु स्वयं पिंषे गात्रोद्वर्तनमात्मन: । अन्यत्र कुन्त्या भद्रें ते सा पिनष्म्यद्य चन्दनम्
idaṃ tu duḥkhaṃ kaunteya mamāsahaṃ nibodha tat | yān jātu svayaṃ piṃṣe gātroddvartanam ātmanaḥ | anyatra kuntyā bhadraṃ te sā piṣmy adya candanam |
แต่โอ กุันเตยะ จงรู้เถิดถึงความทุกข์อันเหลือทนของข้า สำหรับเครื่องขัดทาตามกายของตน ข้าไม่เคยบดด้วยมือตนเองเลย—เว้นแต่เพื่อกุนตี ขอความสวัสดีจงมีแก่ท่าน; วันนี้นางจะเป็นผู้บดจันทน์
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the pain of being reduced to menial, self-serving tasks and contrasts it with dignified service rendered by loved ones. It implicitly values humility and endurance in adversity, while showing how dharma can involve accepting hardship without losing inner nobility.
Vaiśampāyana narrates a moment of lament: the speaker describes an unbearable humiliation—having to grind paste for bodily anointing—something never done personally before, except when Kuntī did it. The mention that Kuntī will grind sandalwood paste “today” points to their constrained circumstances during the Virāṭa-period concealment and the reversal of royal comforts.