अपुत्रा पुरुषव्याघ्र विललापेति नः श्रुतम् ॥
भद्रा परमदुःखार्ता तन् निबोध नराधिप ॥
नारी परमधर्मज्ञ सर्वा पुत्रविनाकृता ॥
पतिं विना जीवति या न सा जीवति दुःखिता ॥
पतिं विना मृतं श्रेयो नार्याः क्षत्रियपुंगव ॥
त्वद्गतिं गन्तुम् इच्छामि प्रसीदस्व नयस्व माम् ॥
त्वया हीना क्षणम् अपि नाहं जीवितुम् उत्सहे ॥
प्रसादं कुरु मे राजन्न् इतस् तूर्णं नयस्व माम् ॥
aputrā puruṣavyāghra vilalāpeti naḥ śrutam ||
bhadrā paramaduḥkhārtā tan nibodha narādhipa ||
nārī paramadharmajña sarvā putravinākṛtā ||
patiṃ vinā jīvati yā na sā jīvati duḥkhitā ||
patiṃ vinā mṛtaṃ śreyo nāryāḥ kṣatriyapuṃgava ||
tvadgatiṃ gantum icchāmi prasīdasva nayasva mām ||
tvayā hīnā kṣaṇam api nāhaṃ jīvitum utsahe ||
prasādaṃ kuru me rājann itas tūrṇaṃ nayasva mām ||
"Childless, o tiger among men, Bhadra wept, as we have heard, sorely afflicted — hear this, o lord of men: 'A woman, o highest knower of dharma, any woman deprived of a son and living without a husband — she does not live, but only suffers. Without a husband death is better for a woman, o bull among kshatriyas; I wish to go by your path; be gracious, take me with you. Deprived of you, I cannot bear to live even a moment; show me mercy, o king, take me from here quickly'".
ab37a96c04ad · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:41:49 PM UTC
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Here is shown the depth of Bhadra's grief and fidelity. Telling are her words: without husband and without son, a woman's life is not life but suffering. Here are revealed both the true power of love and the bitterness of worldly dependence: all of Bhadra's happiness lay in her husband, and with his loss life lost its meaning. Telling is her wish to follow her husband into death — the highest expression of pativratā. And yet here too can be discerned a lesson on the transience of worldly love: attachment, even the purest, to a mortal being condemns one to boundless grief at separation; unshaken is only that which is entrusted to the Imperishable — the Lord. And still Bhadra's devotion is so great that, as the tale will show, it will draw down a miracle. Thus scripture reveals both the beauty of marital fidelity and the grief hidden within worldly love.