Shloka 16
Gāndhārī’s Lament and the Identification of Duḥśāsana (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १८)
ईर्षूणां मम पुत्राणां वासुदेवावरोधनम् । मत्तमातड्डदर्पाणां पश्यन्त्यद्य पृथग्जना:,वासुदेव! मतवाले हाथीके समान घमंडमें चूर रहनेवाले मेरे ईर्ष्यालु पुत्रोंकी इन रानियोंको आज साधारण लोग देख रहे हैं
īrṣūṇāṃ mama putrāṇāṃ vāsudevāvarodhanam | mattamātaṅgadarpāṇāṃ paśyanty adya pṛthagjanāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Heute erblickt das gemeine Volk diese Frauen—die meine Söhne aus Eifersucht auf Vāsudeva einst in Einschluss hielten. Jene Söhne, vom Hochmut geschwollen wie berauschte Elefanten, sind nun zu Boden gebracht.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arrogance and jealous hostility toward the righteous (here, Vāsudeva) lead to ruin; power that once enabled oppression and seclusion collapses, and the same acts become a source of public humiliation—an ethical reminder of karma and the fragility of worldly dominance.
In the aftermath of the war (Strī Parva’s lamentation setting), Vaiśampāyana describes how the Kaurava women—formerly kept within the inner apartments under the jealous, elephant-proud dominance of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons—are now visible to ordinary people, signaling the Kauravas’ defeat and the reversal of royal fortune.