Draupadi's Plaint
Loose-attired, with trailing tresses, came Draupadi weak and faint,Stood within the Council Chamber, tearful made her piteous plaint:
"Elders! versed in holy sastra, and in every holy rite,Pardon if Draupadi cometh in this sad unseemly plight,
Stay thy sinful deed, Duhsasan, nameless wrongs and insults spare,Touch me not with hands uncleanly, sacred is a woman's hair,
Honoured elders, righteous nobles, have on me protection given,Tremble sinner, seek no mercy from the wrathful gods in heaven!
Here in glory, son of DHARMA, sits my noble righteous lord,Sin nor shame nor human frailty stains Yudhishthir's deed or word,
Silent all? and will no chieftain rise to save a woman's life,Not a hand or voice is lifted to defend a virtuous wife?
Lost is Kuru's righteous glory, lost is Bharat's ancient name,Lost is Kshatra's kingly prowess, warlike worth and knightly fame,
Wherefore else do Kuru warriors tamely view this impious scene,Wherefore gleam not righteous weapons to protect an outraged queen?
Bhishma, hath he lost his virtue, Drona, hath he lost his might,Hath the monarch of the Kurus ceased to battle for the right,
Wherefore are ye mute and voiceless, councillors of mighty fame?Vacant eye and palsied right arm watch this deed of Kuru's shame!"
Words in this poem
- tearful a.
- Abounding with tears; weeping; shedding tears; as, tearful eyes.
- plaint n.
- Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
- plight v. t.
- To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
- wrathful a.
- Full of wrath; very angry; greatly incensed; ireful; passionate; as, a wrathful man.
- frailty n.
- The condition quality of being frail, physically, mentally, or morally, frailness; infirmity; weakness of resolution; liableness to be deceived or seduced. [OE. frelete, freilte, OF. fraileté, fr. L. fragilitas. See Frail, a., and cf. Fragility.]
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- prowess n.
- Distinguished bravery; valor; especially, military bravery and skill; gallantry; intrepidity; fearlessness. Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney. [OF. proece, proesce, F. prouesse. See Prow, a.]
- knightly a.
- Of or pertaining to a knight; becoming a knight; chivalrous; as, a knightly combat; a knightly spirit. [AS. cnihtlic boyish.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- tamely adv.
- In a tame manner.
- voiceless a.
- Having no voice, utterance, or vote; silent; mute; dumb.
- palsied a.
- Affected with palsy; paralyzed.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Draupadi's Plaint is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vyasa, Draupadi's Plaint, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/draupadi-s-plaint.html, id L15779.
Form and metre
Draupadi's Plaint is 20 lines in 10 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AA faintA · plaintA
- 2 AA riteA · plightA
- 3 AA spareA · hairA
- 6 AA lifeA · wifeA
- 7 AA nameA · fameA
- 8 AA sceneA · queenA
- 9 AA mightA · rightA
- 10 AA fameA · shameA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Loose-attired, with trailing tresses, came Draupadi weak and faint, | 15 | ·˘/·/˘/˘······· |
| Stood within the Council Chamber, tearful made her piteous plaint: | 16 | ····/˘/˘/˘··/˘˘· |
| "Elders! versed in holy sastra, and in every holy rite, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Pardon if Draupadi cometh in this sad unseemly plight, | 15 | /˘····/˘···˘/˘· |
| Stay thy sinful deed, Duhsasan, nameless wrongs and insults spare, | 15 | ··/˘····/˘··/·· |
| Touch me not with hands uncleanly, sacred is a woman's hair, | 15 | ········/˘··/˘· |
| Honoured elders, righteous nobles, have on me protection given, | 16 | /˘/˘/˘/˘···˘/˘/˘ |
| Tremble sinner, seek no mercy from the wrathful gods in heaven! | 16 | /˘/˘··/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Here in glory, son of DHARMA, sits my noble righteous lord, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Sin nor shame nor human frailty stains Yudhishthir's deed or word, | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Silent all? and will no chieftain rise to save a woman's life, | 15 | /˘····/˘····/˘· |
| Not a hand or voice is lifted to defend a virtuous wife? | 15 | ······/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Lost is Kuru's righteous glory, lost is Bharat's ancient name, | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Lost is Kshatra's kingly prowess, warlike worth and knightly fame, | 15 | ····/˘/˘/···/˘· |
| Wherefore else do Kuru warriors tamely view this impious scene, | 16 | /˘····/˘/˘··˘/˘· |
| Wherefore gleam not righteous weapons to protect an outraged queen? | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘·˘/·/·· |
| Bhishma, hath he lost his virtue, Drona, hath he lost his might, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Hath the monarch of the Kurus ceased to battle for the right, | 15 | ··/·······/˘··· |
| Wherefore are ye mute and voiceless, councillors of mighty fame? | 15 | /˘····/˘····/˘· |
| Vacant eye and palsied right arm watch this deed of Kuru's shame!" | 15 | /˘··/˘········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.