Shloka 15

Devanagari script

स्मृत्वाथ केशग्रहणं च देव्या वस्त्रापहारं च रजस्वलाया: । अनागसो भर्त॒पराड्मुखाया दुःखानि दत्तान्यपि विप्रचिन्त्य

Transliteration

smṛtvātha keśagrahaṇaṁ ca devyā vastrāpahāraṁ ca rajasvalāyāḥ | anāgaso bhartṛ-parāṅmukhāyā duḥkhāni dattāny api vipracintya

Translation

Sañjaya thưa: Nhớ lại việc nắm giật tóc của hoàng hậu và việc lột y phục của người phụ nữ đang trong kỳ kinh nguyệt; rồi nghĩ đi nghĩ lại về những khổ đau đã trút lên nàng—dẫu nàng vô tội, dẫu chồng nàng đã bị buộc phải ngoảnh mặt (bất lực không thể che chở)—tâm trí ông rối bời bởi những ý nghĩ nặng nề. Câu kệ gợi lại một sự xâm phạm nghiêm trọng đến phẩm giá và dharma, như một nguyên nhân đạo lý rồi sẽ chín muồi thành tai ương về sau.

Word by Word

• स्मृत्वा: having remembered
• स्मृत्वा: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), कर्तरि

• अथ: then/and then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• केशग्रहणम्: the seizing of (her) hair
• केशग्रहणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशग्रहण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• देव्याः: of the lady/queen
• देव्याः: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Singular

• वस्त्रापहारम्: the stripping/robbery of garments
• वस्त्रापहारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वस्त्रापहार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• रजस्वलायाः: of (her) who was menstruating
• रजस्वलायाः: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रजस्वला (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Singular

• अनागसः: of the guiltless/innocent (one)
• अनागसः: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनागस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• भर्तुः: of the husband
• भर्तुः: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: भर्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पराङ्मुखायाः: of (her) whose face was turned away (from her husband)
• पराङ्मुखायाः: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पराङ्मुखा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Singular

• दुःखानि: sufferings/sorrows
• दुःखानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• दत्तानि: given/inflicted
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Neuter, Accusative, Plural, कर्मणि

• अपि: even/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• विप्रचिन्त्य: having reflected deeply/considered
• विप्रचिन्त्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + प्र + चिन्त् (धातु)
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), कर्तरि

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• देवी (the queen/lady—Draupadī implied)
• भर्तृ (husband—Pāṇḍavas implied)
• केश (hair)
• वस्त्र (garments)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the outrage against an innocent woman—hair-pulling and attempted disrobing, especially when she was vulnerable—as a paradigmatic breach of dharma. Such violations of dignity and protection (rakṣaṇa) are not merely personal crimes but ethical ruptures that generate far-reaching consequences, becoming moral causes for later suffering and war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior/king (contextually, the Kaurava side’s leader is often implied) recalling the earlier humiliation of the queen (Draupadī) in the assembly: her hair was seized and her garments were sought to be removed. He reflects that she was innocent and that her husband(s) were rendered unable to protect her, and he broods over the sufferings that were inflicted—an act remembered as a key seed of the Kurukṣetra catastrophe.