ततो जवेनाभिससार रोषाद्; दुःशासनस् ताम् अभिगर्जमानः ॥
दीर्घेषु नीलेष्व् अथ चोर्मिमत्सु; जग्राह केशेषु नरेन्द्रपत्नीम् ॥
ये राजसूयावभृथे जलेन; महाक्रतौ मन्त्रपूतेन सिक्ताः ॥
ते पाण्डवानां परिभूय वीर्यं; बलात् प्रमृष्टा धृतराष्ट्रजेन ॥
स तां परामृश्य सभासमीपम्; आनीय कृष्णाम् अतिकृष्णकेशीम् ॥
दुःशासनो नाथवतीम् अनाथवच्; चकर्ष वायुः कदलीम् इवार्ताम् ॥
tato javenābhisasāra roṣād; duḥśāsanas tām abhigarjamānaḥ ||
dīrgheṣu nīleṣv atha cormimatsu; jagrāha keśeṣu narendrapatnīm ||
ye rājasūyāvabhṛthe jalena; mahākratau mantrapūtena siktāḥ ||
te pāṇḍavānāṃ paribhūya vīryaṃ; balāt pramṛṣṭā dhṛtarāṣṭrajena ||
sa tāṃ parāmṛśya sabhāsamīpam; ānīya kṛṣṇām atikṛṣṇakeśīm ||
duḥśāsano nāthavatīm anāthavac; cakarṣa vāyuḥ kadalīm ivārtām ||
Then swiftly, in fury, roaring, Duhshasana rushed after her and seized the wife of the lord of men by her long, dark, wavy hair — that very hair which, at the avabhritha of the rajasuya, at the great sacrifice, had been sprinkled with water sanctified [by mantras]. Trampling on the valor of the Pandavas, the son of Dhritarashtra tore at it by force; and, seizing the raven-haired Krishna, drawing her near the assembly, Duhshasana dragged her — who had protectors, as though she had none — as the wind [drags] a plantain tree, in anguish.
0b2bb51f4c85 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:37 PM UTC
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The narrator does not fail to note: that hair had been sanctified with the water of the rajasuya. It is telling, this juxtaposition — what was sacred, anointed at a royal rite, is now seized by a violator's hand: the very sanctity itself is desecrated. The verse reveals the fullness of the sacrilege: not only a person is insulted, but the sanctified, and through it, the rite itself, the very order of dharma. And "who had protectors, as though she had none" is the bitterest stroke: her heroic husbands stand nearby, yet bound [by word and by loss], powerless. Thus evil, triumphant, drags the sacred as the wind drags a frail tree. But the desecration of what is sanctified does not go without an answer from heaven: what is trampled on earth by force will cry out for protection from above — and protection will come.