Shloka 5

Devanagari script

तत्र बद्धमनोदृष्टिरभवत्‌ सा सुमध्यमा । न चातप्यत रूपेण भानो: संध्यागतस्य सा

Transliteration

tatra baddha-manodṛṣṭir abhavat sā sumadhyamā | na cātapyata rūpeṇa bhānoḥ sandhyāgatasya sā ||

Translation

Ở đó, người thiếu phụ thắt đáy lưng ong hoàn toàn chìm đắm—tâm trí và ánh nhìn như bị buộc chặt vào một điểm. Dẫu mặt trời đã ngả về giờ hoàng hôn, nàng vẫn không cảm thấy hơi nóng trên thân thể, bởi nàng quá đỗi chuyên chú vào điều mình đang thấy.

Word by Word

तत्रthere

बद्ध-मनः-दृष्टिःone whose mind and gaze were fixed

अभवत्became/was

साshe

सुमध्यमाthe slender-waisted (lady)

नnot

चand

आतप्यतwas scorched/was afflicted

रूपेणby (his) form/appearance

भानोःof the sun

सन्ध्या-गतस्यof (the sun) that had reached twilight

साshe

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

sumadhyamā (a lady, unnamed here)

bhānu (the sun)

sandhyā (twilight)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how powerful inner absorption can be: when the mind is intensely fixed, ordinary bodily sensations (like heat) recede. Ethically, it suggests that attention governs experience—disciplined focus can steady one amid external conditions, though uncontrolled fixation can also signal overpowering emotion.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a woman standing in a place where her mind and eyes become riveted on something before her. Time passes into twilight, yet she remains so intent that she does not even register the sun’s heat on her body.