Shloka 4
Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni
Book 11, Chapter 24
दिष्ट्या नैनं महाराज दारुणं भरतक्षयम् । कुरुसंक्रन्दनं घोर युगान्तमनुपश्यसि,“महाराज! सौभाग्यसे आपको यह भरतवंशियोंका दारुण विनाश, घोर प्रलयके समान कुरुकुलका महासंहार देखनेका अवसर नहीं मिला है
diṣṭyā nainaṃ mahārāja dāruṇaṃ bharatakṣayam | kurusaṃkrandanaṃ ghoraṃ yugāntam anupaśyasi ||
Sie sprach: „Zum Glück, o großer König, musstest du diese grausame Vernichtung der Bhāratas nicht mit ansehen — dieses schreckliche, vom Kriegsgeschrei erfüllte Gemetzel der Kurus, wie das Ende eines Zeitalters.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the aftermath of war as so morally and emotionally catastrophic that not witnessing it is itself a kind of grace; it underscores impermanence and the ethical horror of mass violence.
Vaiśampāyana addresses a king and remarks that, fortunately, he did not have to see the dreadful annihilation of the Bharatas and the terrifying, yugānta-like slaughter and tumult among the Kurus.