Shloka 3
Gaṅgā-tīra Udaka-kriyā and Kuntī’s Disclosure of Karṇa’s Maternity
Strī-parva, Adhyāya 27
पुत्राणामार्यकाणां च पतीनां च कुरुस्त्रिय: । उदकं चक्रिरे सर्वा रुदत्यो भृशदु:खिता:
putrāṇām āryakāṇāṁ ca patīnām ca kurustriyaḥ | udakaṁ cakrire sarvā rudatyo bhṛśaduḥkhitāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Die Frauen der Kurus, weinend und von heftigem Schmerz überwältigt, vollzogen alle die Wasseropfer für ihre Söhne, ihre Ältesten und ihre Gatten—und erfüllten so die traurige Pflicht, die den Toten nach der Verwüstung des Krieges geschuldet ist.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid unbearable grief, dharma is upheld through prescribed duties toward the departed—here, the women perform water-offerings, expressing responsibility, remembrance, and respect for familial bonds severed by war.
In the aftermath of the great slaughter, the Kuru women mourn and collectively perform the funerary water-offering rites for those they lost—sons, elders, and husbands—marking the transition from battlefield death to ritual remembrance.