Shloka 25
Abhimanyu’s Śrāddha; Vyāsa’s Assurance of the Unborn Heir (अभिमन्योः श्राद्धं तथा गर्भरक्षणोपदेशः)
दुःखार्ताथो सुतं प्राप्प कुररीव ननाद ह । द्रौपदी च समासाद्य पर्यपृच्छत दुःखिता
duḥkhārtātho sutaṃ prāpya kurarīvā nanāda ha | draupadī ca samāsādya paryapṛcchata duḥkhitā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Overwhelmed by grief, she reached her son and cried out like a kurarī-bird. Then, in deep sorrow, she approached Draupadī and questioned her, seeking to know what had happened amid the calamity.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the natural force of grief and the ethical impulse to seek clarity and counsel in suffering: lament is human, but approaching a trusted person and asking what occurred is a step toward understanding and eventual steadiness.
A grieving woman reaches her son and wails loudly, compared to the piercing cry of a kurarī-bird. Still distressed, she then goes to Draupadī and questions her, indicating a moment of inquiry amid the broader post-conflict sorrow of the Ashvamedhika narrative.