Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 26
Adhyāya 14: Sudēṣṇā Sends Sairandhrī to Kīcaka’s House (सुदेष्णा–सैरन्ध्री–कीचक संवादः)
“वरारोहे! तुम अपने संगमरूपी मेघसे आत्म-समर्पणरूपी वर्षाद्वारा इस प्रज्वलित मदनाग्निको बुझा दो ।।
varārohe! tvaṁ ātmā-samarpaṇa-rūpiṇā varṣeṇa sva-saṅgama-rūpaṁ meghaṁ kṛtvā imāṁ prajvalitāṁ madanāgniṁ nirvāpayā. maccitto unmādanakarā manmathasya śarotkarāḥ | tvatsaṅgamāśā-niśitās tīvraḥ śaśinibhānane | māṁ vidārya hṛdayam idaṁ nirdaya-vegītāḥ ||
“O ginang na marangal, o mukhang-buwan! Nawa’y ang ulap ng iyong pakikipagniig ay magbuhos ng ulang pag-aalay ng sarili upang mapawi ang naglalagablab na apoy ng pagnanasa sa loob ko. Ang mga ulang-palaso ni Manmatha na nagpapabaliw sa aking isip ay hinasa sa matalim na gilid ng pag-asang mayakap ka; naging di-matiis ang tindi ng talim. Walang-awa at mabilis, pinunit nila ang aking puso at bumaon sa loob, na nagbubunga ng deliryo ng pag-ibig. Ikaw lamang—sa pagbibigay ng sarili sa pag-iisang-dibdib, na parang gamot na nagpapagaling—ang makapagliligtas sa akin dito.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is not a dharma-injunction but a poetic depiction of kāma’s overpowering force: desire can seize the mind, sharpened by hope, and feel like a violent inner assault. It also shows how persuasion in love uses metaphor (fire, cloud, rain, medicine) to frame union as relief and ‘rescue,’ revealing the psychological mechanics of longing.
A man, overwhelmed by erotic longing, addresses a woman with honorific epithets (‘varārohā,’ ‘moon-faced’) and pleads for union. He describes Kāma’s arrows as having become sharper through his hope of meeting her, piercing his heart and causing delirium, and he asks her to save him by granting herself—likened to a cooling rain and a healing medicine.