Shloka 18
आपद्-राजनीतिः (Āpad-rājanīti) — Policy Options in Multi-Front Crisis
प्रदानकांक्षिणीनां च कन्यानां वयसि स्थिते | श्रुत्वा कथास्तथायुक्ता: सा55शा कृशतरी मया
pradānakāṅkṣiṇīnāṃ ca kanyānāṃ vayasi sthite | śrutvā kathās tathāyuktāḥ sāśā kṛśatarī mayā ||
当那些渴望出嫁的少女到了适龄之时，听闻与婚事相称的言语，心中便生起希望。那同样自然的希望也在我心中生起，使我因渴念而愈加消瘦、愈加憔悴。
कृश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how socially sanctioned expectations—especially regarding marriage at the proper age—naturally generate hope and longing, powerful enough to affect one’s body and mind. It implicitly points to the ethical weight of such discussions and the vulnerability of those who desire a rightful life-stage transition.
Kṛśa speaks introspectively: hearing appropriate talk about marriage, like that which stirs hope in marriageable maidens, has similarly stirred hope in him; the intensity of that hope has left him even more emaciated.