Shloka 73
समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः
Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī
ऐषीकं पर्व चोद्दिष्टमत ऊर्ध्व सुदारुणम् जलप्रदानिकं पर्व स्त्रीविलापस्तत: परम्,इसके बाद अत्यन्त दारुण ऐषीकपर्वकी कथा है। फिर जलप्रदानिक और स्त्रीविलापपर्व आते हैं
aiṣīkaṁ parva coddiṣṭam ata ūrdhvaṁ sudāruṇam | jalapradānikaṁ parva strīvilāpas tataḥ param ||
Next is indicated the Aiṣīka Parva, exceedingly grim in its events. After that come the Jalapradānika Parva, concerning the offering of water-oblations, and then the Strīvilāpa Parva, marked by the lamentations of women—signaling the moral and emotional aftermath of devastation.
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that catastrophic action is followed by unavoidable moral and human consequences: ritual duties toward the dead (water-offerings) and the raw grief of survivors. It implicitly frames dharma not only as heroic action but also as responsibility in the aftermath—honoring the departed and acknowledging suffering.
The speaker is enumerating upcoming sections (parvans) of the Mahābhārata’s narrative: first the grim Aiṣīka Parva, then the Jalapradānika Parva dealing with water-oblations for the dead, and finally the Strīvilāpa Parva centered on women’s lamentation—an outline of successive episodes and their tone.