i_, she began to
wander hither and thither in seeming affliction. And beholding her
wandering, men and women came to her hastily and addressed her, saying,
'Who are you? And what do you seek?' And she replied, 'I am a king's
_Sairindhri_. I desire to serve any one that will maintain me.' But
beholding her beauty and dress, and hearing also her speech that was so
sweet, the people could not take her for a maid-servant in search of
subsistence. And it came to pass that while looking this way and that
from the terrace, Virata's beloved queen, daughter of the king of
Kekaya, saw Draupadi. And beholding her forlorn and clad in a single
piece of cloth, the queen addressed her saying, 'O beautiful one, who
are you, and what do you seek?' Thereupon, Draupadi answered her,
saying, 'O foremost of queens, I am _Sairindhri_. I will serve anybody
that will maintain me.' Then Sudeshna said, 'What you say (regarding
your profession) can never be compatible with so much beauty. (On the
contrary) you might well be the mistress of servants both, male and
female. Your heels are not prominent, and your thighs touch each other.
And your intelligence is great, and your navel deep, and your words
solemn. And your great toes, and bust and hips, and back and sides, and
toe-nails, and palms are all well-developed. And your palms, soles, and
face are ruddy. And your speech is sweet even as the voice of the swan.
And your hair is beautiful, and your bust shapely, and you are possessed
of the highest grace. And your hips and bust are plump. And like a
Kashmerean mare you are furnished with every auspicious mark. And your
eye-lashes are (beautiful) bent, and your nether-lip is like the ruddy
ground. And your waist is slender, and your neck bears lines that
resemble those of the conch. And your veins are scarcely visible.
Indeed, your countenance is like the full moon, and your eyes resemble
the leaves of the autumnal lotus, and your body is fragrant as the lotus
itself. Verily, in beauty you resemble _Sri_ herself, whose seat is the
autumnal lotus. Tell me, O beautiful damsel, who thou art. Thou canst
never be a maidservant. Art thou a _Yakshi_, a Goddess, a _Gandharvi_,
or an _Apsara_? Art thou the daughter of a celestial, or art thou a
female _Naga_? Art thou the guardian goddess of some city, a
_Vidyadhari_, or a _Kinnari_,--or art thou _Rohini_ herself? Or art thou
Alamvusha, or Misrakesi, Pundarika, or Malini, or the queen of Indra, or
of Varuna