सुदेष्णोवाच
मूर्ध्नि त्वां वासयेयं वै संशयो मे न विद्यते ॥
नो चेद् इह तु राजा त्वां गच्छेत् सर्वेण चेतसा ॥
स्त्रियो राजकुले पश्य याश् चेमा मम वेश्मनि ॥
प्रसक्तास् त्वां निरीक्षन्ते पुमांसं कं न मोहयेः ॥
वृक्षांश् चावस्थितान् पश्य य इमे मम वेश्मनि ॥
ते ऽपि त्वां संनमन्तीव पुमांसं कं न मोहयेः ॥
राजा विराटः सुश्रोणि दृष्ट्वा वपुर् अमानुषम् ॥
विहाय मां वरारोहे त्वां गच्छेत् सर्वचेतसा ॥
यं हि त्वम् अनवद्याङ्गि नरम् आयतलोचने ॥
प्रसक्तम् अभिवीक्षेथाः स कामवशगो भवेत् ॥
यश् च त्वां सततं पश्येत् पुरुषश् चारुहासिनि ॥
एवं सर्वानवद्याङ्गि स चानङ्गवशो भवेत् ॥
यथा कर्कटकी गर्भम् आधत्ते मृत्युम् आत्मनः ॥
तथाविधम् अहं मन्ये वासं तव शुचिस्मिते ॥
sudeṣṇovāca
mūrdhni tvāṃ vāsayeyaṃ vai saṃśayo me na vidyate ||
no ced iha tu rājā tvāṃ gacchet sarveṇa cetasā ||
striyo rājakule paśya yāś cemā mama veśmani ||
prasaktās tvāṃ nirīkṣante pumāṃsaṃ kaṃ na mohayeḥ ||
vṛkṣāṃś cāvasthitān paśya ya ime mama veśmani ||
te 'pi tvāṃ saṃnamantīva pumāṃsaṃ kaṃ na mohayeḥ ||
rājā virāṭaḥ suśroṇi dṛṣṭvā vapur amānuṣam ||
vihāya māṃ varārohe tvāṃ gacchet sarvacetasā ||
yaṃ hi tvam anavadyāṅgi naram āyatalocane ||
prasaktam abhivīkṣethāḥ sa kāmavaśago bhavet ||
yaś ca tvāṃ satataṃ paśyet puruṣaś cāruhāsini ||
evaṃ sarvānavadyāṅgi sa cānaṅgavaśo bhavet ||
yathā karkaṭakī garbham ādhatte mṛtyum ātmanaḥ ||
tathāvidham ahaṃ manye vāsaṃ tava śucismite ||
Sudeshna said: 'I would gladly set you upon my own head, and I have no doubt of it — were it not that the king here might go to you with his whole heart. Look at the women of the royal household, and those in my own dwelling: they gaze at you intently. What man would you not bewilder? Look at the trees standing in my house: even they seem to bow toward you. What man would you not bewilder? King Virata, fair-hipped one, on seeing your more-than-human beauty, would abandon me, lovely one, and go to you with his whole heart. Flawless one, wide-eyed one, any man on whom you fix your gaze will fall under the sway of desire. And a man who looks on you continually, sweetly-smiling one, will likewise fall under the sway of Ananga. I think that your dwelling with me, pure-smiling one, is like the female crab, who carries her own pregnancy toward her own death.'
1c87e3bf2693 · published Jul 16, 2026, 5:58:59 PM UTC
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Sudeshna speaks not out of envy but out of fear. She understands the workings of the palace: there another's beauty can become the cause not of love but of violence and destruction.