Shloka 26
भूषितं तमलंकारै: कुण्डलै: परिहाटकै: । कम्बुपाणिनमायान्तं दृष्टवा सीदति मे मन:,अर्जुनको स्त्रीजनोचित आभूषणों तथा सुवर्णमय कुण्डलोंसे विभूषित हो हाथोंमें शंखकी चूड़ियाँ धारण किये आते देख मेरा हृदय दुःखित हो जाता है
bhūṣitaṃ tam alaṅkāraiḥ kuṇḍalaiḥ parihāṭakaiḥ | kambupāṇinam āyāntaṃ dṛṣṭvā sīdati me manaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Thấy chàng bước tới—được điểm trang bằng đồ trang sức, đeo khuyên tai và đồ vàng, lại mang vòng tay bằng vỏ ốc trên đôi bàn tay—lòng ta chùng xuống trong sầu muộn.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Outer appearance can be strategically assumed for a righteous purpose without altering inner virtue; the verse underscores the emotional cost and social tension of such role-reversal, while implying that dharma may require difficult, even humiliating, adaptations to protect a greater good.
During the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito stay in Virāṭa’s kingdom, Arjuna appears in a feminized, ornamented guise (as Bṛhannalā). The narrator describes his own sorrow on seeing the great warrior approaching adorned with earrings, gold ornaments, and conch-shell bangles.