साहमामन्त्र्य गाङ्गेयं समरेष्वनिवर्तिनम् । अनुज्ञाता च तेनैव ततोऽहं भृशमागता
Having addressed Ganga's son, who does not turn back in battle, and having been permitted by him, I then came here in great distress.
न स भीष्मो महाबाहुर्मामिच्छति विशांपते । भ्रातृहेतोः समारम्भो भीष्मस्येति श्रुतं मया
That mighty-armed Bhishma does not desire me, O king of men; I have heard that Bhishma's undertaking was for the sake of his brother.
भगिन्यौ मम ये नीते अम्बिकाम्बालिके नृप। प्रादाद्विचित्रवीर्याय गाङ्गेयो हि यवीयसे
My sisters, Ambika and Ambalika, were taken, O king; Ganga's son gave them to Vichitravirya, the younger.
यथा साल्वपते नान्यं वरं यामि कथंचन। त्वामृते पुरुषव्याघ्र तथा मूर्धानमालभे
O lord of the Salvas, I will not choose any other husband in any way; except for you, tiger among men, I will thus lay my head down.
न चान्यपूर्वा राजेन्द्र त्वामहं समुपस्थिता। सत्यं ब्रवीमि साल्वैतत्सत्येनात्मानमालभे
Nor have I approached you after any other, O king; I speak this truth, O Salva, and by this truth I lay myself down.
भजस्व मां विशालाक्ष स्वयं कन्यामुपस्थिताम्। अनन्यपूर्वां राजेन्द्र त्वत्प्रसादाभिकाङ्क्षिणीम्
Take me, O wide-eyed one, as I come to you of my own will, a maiden; one who has not been with another, O king, desiring your favor.
तामेवं भाषमाणां तु साल्वः काशिपतेः सुताम्। अत्यजद्भरतश्रेष्ठ जीर्णां त्वचमिवोरगः
As she spoke thus, Salva abandoned the daughter of the king of Kashi, O best of Bharatas, as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
एवं बहुविधैर्वाक्यैर्याच्यमानस्तया नृपः । नाश्रद्दधत्साल्वपतिः कन्यायां भरतर्षभ
Though she pleaded with him in many ways, the king, O bull among Bharatas, the lord of the Salvas did not believe in the maiden.
ततः सा मन्युनाऽऽविष्टा ज्येष्ठा काशिपतेः सुता। अब्रवीत्साश्रुनयना बाष्पविप्लुतया गिरा
Then, possessed by anger, the eldest daughter of the king of Kashi spoke, her eyes filled with tears, her voice choked with sobs.
त्वया त्यक्ता गमिष्यामि यत्र तत्र विशांपते। तत्र मे गतयः सन्तु सन्तः सत्यं यथा ध्रुवम्
Rejected by you, O king, I will go wherever; let my paths be among the virtuous, as surely as truth endures.
एवं तां भाषमाणां तु कन्यां साल्वपतिस्तदा। परितत्याज कौरव्य करुणं परिदेवतीम्
As she spoke thus, O Kaurava, the lord of the Salvas then utterly abandoned the maiden, who lamented in sorrow.
गच्छ गच्छेति तां साल्वः पुनः पुनरभाषत। बिभेमि भीष्मात्सुश्रोणि त्वं च भीष्मपरिग्रहः
Go, go, Salva said to her again and again; I fear Bhishma, O lovely one, and you are Bhishma's possession.
एवमुक्ता तु सा तेन साल्वेनादीर्घदर्शिना । निश्चक्राम पुराद्दीना रुदती कुररी यथा
Thus addressed by Salva, who saw not far ahead, she departed from the city, dejected and weeping like a female crane.
निष्क्रामन्ती तु नगराच्चिन्तयामास दुःखिता । पृथिव्यां नास्ति युवतिर्विषमस्थतरा मया
Leaving the city, she pondered in sorrow: There is no young woman on earth in a more difficult plight than I.
बन्धुर्भिर्विप्रहीणास्मि साल्वेन च निराकृता । न च शक्यं पुनर्गन्तुं मया वारणसाह्वयम्
I am bereft of kin, rejected by Salva, and I cannot return again to Varanasi.
अनुज्ञाता तु भीष्मेण साल्वमुद्दिश्य कारणम्। किं नु गर्हाम्यथात्मानमथ भीष्मं दुरासदम्
Permitted by Bhishma, citing Salva as the reason, should I blame myself, or Bhishma, who is hard to approach?
अथवा पितरं मूढं यो मेऽकार्षीत्स्वयंवरम् । मयाऽयं स्वकृतो दोषो याऽहं भीष्मरथात्तदा
Or perhaps it was my foolish father who arranged my svayamvara; this fault is my own, for I spoke from Bhishma's chariot at that time.
प्रवृत्ते दारुणे युद्धे साल्वार्थं नापतं पुरा। तस्येयं फलनिर्वृत्तिर्यदापन्नाऽस्मि मूढवत्
When that terrible battle began for Salva's sake, I did not fall then; this is the outcome of that, now that I have come to such misfortune like one deluded.
धिग्भीष्मं धिक्क मे मन्दं पितरं मूढचेतसम् । येनाहं वीर्यशुल्केन पण्यस्त्रीव प्रचोदिता
Shame on Bhishma, shame on my foolish father with his deluded mind, by whom I was urged, like a commodity-woman, to be won as a prize for valor.
धिङ्मां धिक्साल्वराजानं धिग्धातारमथापि वा । येषां दुर्नीतभावेन प्राप्तास्म्यापदमुत्तमाम्
Shame on me, shame on King Salva, shame even on my father or on the creator; through the wickedness of all these, I have come to this greatest calamity.
सर्वथा भागधेयानि स्वानि प्राप्नोति मानवः । अनयस्यास्य तु मुखं भीष्मः शान्तनवो मम
In every way, a person attains only what is destined for them; but the source of this misfortune is Bhishma, son of Shantanu, for me.
सा भीष्मे प्रतिकर्तव्यमहं पश्यामि सांप्रतम् । तपसा वा युधा वापि दुःखहेतुः स मे मतः
Therefore, I now see that I must act against Bhishma, whether by austerity or by battle; he is, in my view, the cause of my suffering.
को नु भीष्मं युधा जेतुमुत्सहेत महीपतिः । एवं सा परिनिश्चित्य जगाम नगराद्बहिः
What king could hope to defeat Bhishma in battle? Thus, having resolved in this way, she departed from the city.
आश्रमं पुण्यशीलानां तापसानां महात्मनाम् । ततस्तामवसद्रात्रिं तापसैः परिवारिता
She went to the hermitage of the virtuous ascetics, great-souled sages; there she spent the night, surrounded by the ascetics.
आचख्यौ च यथावृत्तं सर्वमात्मनि भारत । विस्तरेण महाबाहो निखिलेन शुचिस्मिता । हरणं च विसर्गं च साल्वेन च विसर्जनम्
O Bharata, she told everything as it had happened, in detail, to the ascetics—her abduction, her release, and her dismissal by Salva—all with a pure smile.
ततस्तत्र महानासीद्ब्राह्मणः संशितव्रतः । शैखावत्यस्तपोबृद्धः शास्त्रे चारण्यके गुरुः
Then there was a great Brahmin there, firm in his vows, advanced in asceticism among the Shaikhavatyas, and a teacher in the Aranyaka scriptures.
आर्ता तामाह स मुनिः शैखावत्यो महातपाः । निःश्वसन्तीं सतीं बालां दुःखशोकपरायणाम्
Seeing her distressed, that sage of great austerity, Shaikhavatya, spoke to her as she sighed, a chaste and youthful woman absorbed in grief and sorrow.
एवं गते तु किं भद्रे शक्यं कर्तुं तपस्विभिः । आश्रमस्थैर्महाभागे तपोयुक्तैर्महात्मभिः
"In such a situation, O blessed one, what can the ascetics do for you—those great souls devoted to austerity, dwelling in the hermitage?"
सा त्वेनमब्रवीद्राजन्क्रियतां मदनुग्रहः । प्राव्राज्यमहमिच्छामि तपस्तप्स्यामि दुश्चरम्
But she replied to him, "O king, let your favor be shown to me; I wish to renounce the world and undertake severe austerities."
मयैव यानि कर्माणि पूर्वदेहे तु मूढया। कृतानि नूनं पापानि तेषामेतत्फलं ध्रुवम्
"Surely, the evil deeds I performed in a previous body, out of delusion, have brought about this result for me now."