Shloka 36

कर्कोटक-उपदेशः

Karkoṭaka’s Counsel and Nala’s Concealment

Devanagari script

सती दमयन्तीके तेजसे पापी व्याधका विनाश स तु पापमति): क्षुद्र: प्रधर्षयितुमातुर: । दुर्धर्षा तर्कयामास दीप्तामग्निशिखामिव,यद्यपि वह नीच पापात्मा व्याध उसपर बलात्कार करनेके लिये व्याकुल हो गया था, परंतु दमयन्ती अग्निशिखाकी भाँति उद्दीप्त हो रही थी; अतः उसका स्पर्श करना उसको अत्यन्त दुष्कर प्रतीत हुआ

Transliteration

bṛhadaśva uvāca | satī damayantī tejasā pāpī vyādhaḥ vināśaṃ gataḥ sa tu pāpamatī kṣudraḥ pradharṣayitum āturaḥ | durdharṣāṃ tām atarkayad dīptām agniśikhām iva |

Translation

Dù tên thợ săn hèn hạ, tâm địa tội lỗi, phát cuồng muốn xâm phạm người trinh bạch Damayantī, nhưng ánh uy lực thanh khiết của nàng rực lên như ngọn lửa. Nhìn nàng như nhìn một lưỡi lửa đang bùng cháy, hắn thấy ngay cả ý nghĩ chạm vào nàng cũng trở nên vô cùng khó khăn.

Word by Word

• {'satī': 'a chaste, virtuous woman

• one steadfast in fidelity and dharma', 'damayantī': 'Damayantī (Nala’s wife), exemplar of chastity and endurance', 'tejasā': 'by spiritual radiance, inner splendor, moral power', 'pāpī / pāpamatī': 'sinful

• of wicked intention', 'vyādhaḥ': 'hunter', 'kṣudraḥ': 'base, petty, mean-minded', 'pradharṣayitum': 'to violate, assault, outrage (sexually dishonor)', 'āturaḥ': 'agitated, desperate, frantic', 'durdharṣā': 'hard to assail

• unassailable', 'tarkayāmāsa / atarkayat': 'he considered, judged, perceived', 'dīptā': 'blazing, shining intensely', 'agniśikhā': 'flame-tongue

• a tongue of fire', 'iva': 'like, as if'}

Speaker

ब॒हृदश्चव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bṛhadaśva
• Damayantī
• vyādha (hunter)
• agniśikhā (flame)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores that adharma—especially sexual violence—meets moral resistance: a person grounded in satītva (chastity/virtue) is portrayed as protected by tejas, an inner radiance that repels wicked intent and makes wrongdoing psychologically and spiritually untenable.

What is happening in the narrative?

A hunter, inflamed by lust and sin, attempts to assault Damayantī. Yet her blazing spiritual presence is likened to a tongue of fire, and he finds her impossible to touch—his assaultive impulse falters before her unassailable virtue.