Shloka 10
Adhyāya 14: Sudēṣṇā Sends Sairandhrī to Kīcaka’s House (सुदेष्णा–सैरन्ध्री–कीचक संवादः)
प्रभूतनागा श्वरथं महाजन समृद्धियुक्तं बहुपानभोजनम् । मनोहरं काञ्चनचित्रभूषणं गृहं महच्छोभयतामियं मम
vaiśampāyana uvāca | prabhūtanāgāśva-rathaṃ mahājana-samṛddhi-yuktaṃ bahu-pāna-bhojanam | manoharaṃ kāñcana-citra-bhūṣaṇaṃ gṛhaṃ mahat śobhayatām iyaṃ mama |
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Ang aking malaking tahanan ay may maraming elepante, kabayo, at mga karwahe; may malawak na hanay ng mga tagapaglingkod at hitik sa kayamanan. Sagana roon ang pagkain at inumin. Kaaya-aya itong pagmasdan, pinalalamutian ng mga gintong palamuti at guhit. Nawa’y dumating ang magandang babaeng ito at pagandahin ang aking maluwang na tahanan.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how material abundance and aesthetic splendor can be used as persuasion. Ethically, it points to the risk of reducing a person—here, a woman—to an ornament for one’s status, revealing the tension between desire-driven speech and dharmic restraint.
A speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) boasts of his household’s riches—elephants, horses, chariots, attendants, plentiful food and drink, and golden decorations—and invites a beautiful woman to come to his large house, implying she would enhance its splendor.