Mahabharata 11.23.36 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 23, Shloka 36
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
बाणैभिन्नतनुत्राणं धृष्टद्युम्नेन केशव । उपास्ते वै मृथे द्रोणं जटिला ब्रह्मबचारिणी
Vaiśampāyana uvāca |
Bāṇair bhinna-tanutrāṇaṃ dhṛṣṭadyumnena Keśava |
Upāste vai mṛthe Droṇaṃ jaṭilā brahmacāriṇī ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Keśava, auf dem Schlachtfeld sitzt die asketische Kṛpī—mit verfilzten Locken, dem Brahmacarya verpflichtet—ganz nahe bei Droṇa, dessen Panzer von Dhṛṣṭadyumnas Pfeilen zerrissen und zerschmettert wurde.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and emotional aftermath of warfare: victory and vengeance culminate in intimate scenes of loss, where dharma is tested not only in combat but in how one confronts suffering, mortality, and compassion for the fallen.
After Droṇa has been brought down in battle—his armour shattered by Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s arrows—his wife Kṛpī, described as an ascetic (jaṭilā, brahmacāriṇī), sits near him on the battlefield in a vigil of grief.
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