Shloka 36

चित्रसेन-समागमः / The Engagement with Citrasena and the Gandharvas

Devanagari script

मृदून्‌ सतः सत्यशीलान्‌ सत्यधर्मानुपालिन: । आशीविषानिव क्रुद्धान्‌ पतीन्‌ परिचराम्यहम्‌,“मेरे पति बड़े ही सज्जन और मृदुल स्वभावके हैं। सत्यवादी तथा सत्यधर्मका निरन्तर पालन करनेवाले हैं; तथापि क्रोधमें भरे हुए विषैले सर्पोंसे जिस प्रकार लोग डरते हैं, उसी प्रकार मैं अपने पतियोंसे डरती हुई उनकी सेवा करती हूँ

Transliteration

mṛdūn sataḥ satyaśīlān satyadharmānupālinaḥ | āśīviṣān iva kruddhān patīn paricārāmy aham ||

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说道：“我的夫君们本性温和而贤善——坚守诚言，恒常奉行真实之法。然而一旦怒火炽盛，便如毒蛇一般；因此，我畏惧他们，正如人畏惧那含毒之蛇，却仍旧侍奉左右，尽心服事我的夫君们。”

Word by Word

• {'mṛdūn': 'gentle, soft-natured (accusative plural)', 'sataḥ': 'good, virtuous, noble (accusative plural)', 'satyaśīlān': 'of truthful conduct

• whose disposition is truth (accusative plural)', 'satyadharma': 'the dharma of truth

• truth as a moral/religious duty', 'anupālinaḥ': 'those who observe/maintain faithfully (accusative plural)', 'āśīviṣān': 'venomous serpents (accusative plural)', 'iva': 'like, as if', 'kruddhān': 'angry, enraged (accusative plural)', 'patīn': 'husbands, lords (accusative plural)', 'paricārāmi': 'I attend upon, serve, wait upon', 'aham': 'I'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• patayaḥ (husbands)
• āśīviṣāḥ (venomous serpents)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse juxtaposes inner virtue (truthfulness and adherence to dharma) with the danger of uncontrolled anger. Even the righteous can become fearsome when overcome by krodha; ethical life therefore requires not only commitment to satya but also mastery over anger.

What is happening in the narrative?

A woman speaks (as reported by Vaiśampāyana) about her husbands: she praises their gentle, truthful character, yet admits that in anger they resemble venomous snakes. Out of that fear, she continues to serve and attend upon them, highlighting the tension between domestic duty and the peril of wrath.