Shloka 32
Abhimanyu’s Śrāddha; Vyāsa’s Assurance of the Unborn Heir (अभिमन्योः श्राद्धं तथा गर्भरक्षणोपदेशः)
एवमादि तु वार्ष्णेय्यास्तस्यास्तत्परिदेवितम् । श्र॒ुत्वा पृथा सुदुःखार्ता शनैर्वाक्यमथाब्रवीत्
evamādi tu vārṣṇeyyās tasyās tat-paridevitam | śrutvā pṛthā su-duḥkhārtā śanair vākyam athābravīt ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Hearing thus the lamentation of the Vārṣṇeyī (Subhadrā)—her grief expressed in many such ways—Pṛthā (Kuntī), herself stricken with intense sorrow, then spoke gently and slowly, seeking to console her. She reminded Subhadrā that Abhimanyu, dearly cherished by Vāsudeva, Sātyaki, and his father Arjuna, had nevertheless met the law of time and mortality, for his destined span had been fulfilled.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the most beloved are not exempt from kāla-dharma (the law of time and mortality). The passage frames consolation not by denying grief, but by placing loss within the ethical-spiritual recognition of destiny and the completion of one’s allotted lifespan.
Subhadrā is lamenting Abhimanyu’s death. Vaiśampāyana narrates that Kuntī, overwhelmed with sorrow herself, listens and then speaks softly to console Subhadrā, recalling how dearly Abhimanyu was loved by Kṛṣṇa, Sātyaki, and Arjuna, yet still succumbed to death as ordained by time.