Shloka 11
Āśramāgamanam — The Pāṇḍavas Arrive at Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Hermitage
लक्ष्मणो राजपुत्रश्न धृष्टद्युम्नस्य चात्मजा: । शिखण्डिपुत्रा: सर्वे च धृष्टकेतुश्च सानुज:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
lakṣmaṇo rājaputraś ca dhṛṣṭadyumnasya cātmajāḥ |
śikhaṇḍiputrāḥ sarve ca dhṛṣṭaketuś ca sānujaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Lakṣmaṇa, the prince, and the sons of Dhṛṣṭadyumna; all the sons of Śikhaṇḍin; and Dhṛṣṭaketu together with his younger brothers—these and many other Kṣatriya heroes, too numerous to name, appeared from the water, their bodies shining with radiance.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse points toward a dharmic resolution beyond battlefield hatred: those who died in the war are presented again in a luminous, purified form, suggesting that death and enmity are not the final truth, and that a larger moral-cosmic order ultimately encompasses all beings.
Vaiśampāyana lists notable warriors—Lakṣmaṇa, the sons of Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the sons of Śikhaṇḍin, and Dhṛṣṭaketu with his brothers—among many others, describing their radiant reappearance as they emerge from the water, as part of a broader vision of the departed heroes.