Abhijñānaśākuntalam 4.18
शुश्रूषस्व गुरून् कुरु प्रियसखीवृत्तिं सपत्नीजने
भर्तुर्विप्रकृतापि रोषणतया मा स्म प्रतीपं गमः।
भूयिष्ठं भव दक्षिणा परिजने भाग्येष्वनुत्सेकिनी
यान्त्येवं गृहिणीपदं युवतयो वामाः कुलस्याधयः॥
śuśrūṣasva gurūn kuru priya-sakhī-vṛttiṃ sapatnī-jane
bhartur viprakṛtāpi roṣaṇatayā mā sma pratīpaṃ gamaḥ
bhūyiṣṭhaṃ bhava dakṣiṇā parijane bhāgyeṣv anutsekinī
yānty evaṃ gṛhiṇī-padaṃ yuvatayo vāmāḥ kulasyādhayaḥ
Tap any word to see what it means and how it works in the line.
No word selected yet — choose one above and its meaning, grammar and root appear here.
Wait on your elders. Treat your husband's other wives as friends. Even if he hurts you, do not turn on him in anger. Be generous to the servants, and modest in good fortune. That is how a young woman becomes the true mistress of a household — those who do otherwise are a burden on it.
How the sense would be said plainly today.
Metre
Śārdūlavikrīḍita
— — — ⏑ ⏑ — ⏑ — ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ — | — — ⏑ — — ⏑ —
The same grand nineteen-syllable measure as Kaṇva's grief — here used for a farewell instruction.
— is a long beat, ⏑ a short one.
Why this verse matters
- The image
- No images at all — and that is the point. After an act of tears and birdsong, the father speaks in plain imperatives.
- The craft
- Five commands, then a single line of consequence. It is a social document as much as a poem, and reading it now means holding its tenderness and its constraints in view at the same time.
- The moment
- Kaṇva's last words to Śakuntalā as she leaves the hermitage — the verse Indian audiences have quoted for fifteen centuries.
A short practice
What makes this verse unusual among the famous verses of the play?