Shloka 5

Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni

Book 11, Chapter 24

Devanagari script

दिष्ट्या यूपध्वजं पुत्र वीर॑ भूरिसहस्रदम्‌ । अनेकक्रतुयज्वानं निहतं नानुपश्यसि

Transliteration

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | diṣṭyā yūpadhvajaṃ putra vīra bhūrisahasradam | anekakratuyajvānaṃ nihataṃ nānupaśyasi ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Zum Glück, o Sohn, erblickst du den gefallenen Helden Yūpadhvaja nicht — ihn, der Tausende von Gaben spendete und viele Opfer vollzog.“

Word by Word

दिष्ट्याfortunately; by good luck

यूपध्वजम्Yūpadhvaja (name of a person; lit. 'having a sacrificial-post as banner')

पुत्रO son

वीरO hero

भूरिसहस्रदम्giver of many thousands (very munificent)

अनेकक्रतुयज्वानम्one who has performed many sacrifices

निहतम्slain; killed

नnot

अनुपश्यसिyou see; you behold

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Yūpadhvaja

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contrasts worldly merit—generosity and repeated sacrificial performance—with the harsh finality of war: even the highly meritorious can be cut down. It also frames compassionately that being spared the sight of a noble person’s corpse is itself a kind of ‘good fortune,’ highlighting the ethical horror and emotional cost of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Stree Parva’s lamentation setting after the great war, Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a fallen warrior named Yūpadhvaja, praised for lavish gifts and many sacrifices, and remarks that the addressed person does not have to witness him lying slain.