राजंस्त्वया गृहीतो मे पाणिः परपुरञ्जय ॥२०॥
हस्तग्राहोऽपरो मा भूद् गृहीतायास्त्वया हि मे ।
एष ईशकृतो वीर सम्बन्धो नौ न पौरुषः ॥२१॥
taá¹ vÄ«ram ÄhauÅ›anasÄ«
prema-nirbharayÄ girÄ
rÄjaá¹s tvayÄ gá¹›hÄ«to me
pÄṇiḥ para-purañjaya
hasta-grÄho 'paro mÄ bhÅ«d
gá¹›hÄ«tÄyÄs tvayÄ hi me
eṣa īśa-kṛto vīra
sambandho nau na pauruṣaḥ
tam - unto him; vÄ«ram - YayÄti; Äha - said; auÅ›anasÄ« - the daughter of UÅ›anÄ Kavi, ÅšukrÄcÄrya; prema-nirbharayÄ - saturated with love and kindness; girÄ - by such words; rÄjan - O King; tvayÄ - by you; gá¹›hÄ«taḥ - accepted; me - my; pÄṇiḥ - hand; para-purañjaya - the conqueror of the kingdoms of others; hasta-grÄhaḥ - he who accepted my hand; aparaḥ - another; mÄ - may not; bhÅ«t - become; gá¹›hÄ«tÄyÄḥ - accepted; tvayÄ - by you; hi - indeed; me - of me; eá¹£aḥ - this; Ä«Å›a-ká¹›taḥ - arranged by providence; vÄ«ra - O great hero; sambandhaḥ - relationship; nau - our; na - not; pauruá¹£aḥ - anything man-made.
With words saturated with love and affection, DevayÄnÄ« said to King YayÄti: O great hero, O King, conqueror of the cities of your enemies, by accepting my hand you have accepted me as your married wife. Let me not be touched by others, for our relationship as husband and wife has been made possible by providence, not by any human being.
While taking DevayÄnÄ« out of the well, King YayÄti must certainly have appreciated her youthful beauty, and therefore he might have asked her which caste she belonged to. Thus DevayÄnÄ« would have immediately replied, “We are already married because you have accepted my hand.†Uniting the hands of the bride and bridegroom is a system perpetually existing in all societies. Therefore, as soon as YayÄti accepted DevayÄnī’s hand, they could be regarded as married. Because DevayÄnÄ« was enamored with the hero YayÄti, she requested him not to change his mind and let another come to marry her.
