Shloka 31
Abhimanyu’s Śrāddha; Vyāsa’s Assurance of the Unborn Heir (अभिमन्योः श्राद्धं तथा गर्भरक्षणोपदेशः)
आचदक्ष्व मेउ्द्य संग्रामं यथापूर्वमरिंदम । कस्मादेवं विलपतीं नाद्येह प्रतिभाषसे
ācakṣva me ’dya saṅgrāmaṃ yathāpūrvam ariṃdama | kasmād evaṃ vilapatīṃ nādyeha pratibhāṣase ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O subduer of foes, tell me today about the battle, just as you did before. Why is it that, even while I lament in this way, you do not speak to me here today?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of war remembered through grief: recounting battle is not mere history but a moral and emotional reckoning, where silence itself signals inner conflict, sorrow, or reluctance to reopen painful truths.
A lamenting woman addresses a warrior called ‘ariṃdama’, urging him to describe the battle as he used to, and questioning why he remains silent despite her sorrowful speech.