Mahabharata 11.9.17 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 9, Shloka 17
स्त्रीपर्व — नवमोऽध्यायः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra summons the Kuru women; the city departs in collective lamentation
यांश्वापि निहतान् युद्धे राज॑स्त्वमनुशोचसि । न शोच्या हि महात्मान: सर्वे ते त्रिदिवं गता:
yāṁś cāpi nihatān yuddhe rājas tvam anuśocasi | na śocyā hi mahātmānaḥ sarve te tridivaṁ gatāḥ ||
قال فَيْشَمْبايَنَة: «أيها الملك، إن الذين قُتلوا في المعركة—الذين تندبهم مرارًا—ليسوا ممّن يُتَحَسَّر عليهم. كانوا محاربين عظام النفوس؛ وقد مضوا جميعًا إلى العالم السماوي.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reframes grief through the lens of kṣatriya-dharma: warriors who fall in righteous battle are honored as mahātmans and are said to attain heaven; therefore excessive lamentation is presented as ethically misplaced.
Vaiśampāyana addresses a grieving king who mourns those killed in the war, and he offers consolation by asserting that the fallen were noble and have departed to tridiva (heaven).
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