Shloka 93
Abhimanyu’s Śrāddha; Vyāsa’s Assurance of the Unborn Heir (अभिमन्योः श्राद्धं तथा गर्भरक्षणोपदेशः)
यत्र मे हृदयं दुःखाच्छतथा न विदीर्यते । “वृष्णिनन्दन! अभिमन्युकी आँखें ठीक तुम्हारे ही समान सुन्दर थीं। हाय! वह रणभूमिमें शत्रुओंद्वारा कैसे मारा गया? जान पड़ता है
yatra me hṛdayaṃ duḥkhāc chatathā na vidīryate |
Vaiśampāyana said: “How is it that my heart, though struck by grief, is not shattered into a hundred pieces? O descendant of the Vṛṣṇis—Abhimanyu’s eyes were as beautiful as yours. Alas, how was he slain by enemies on the battlefield? It seems that when a person’s allotted time has not yet fully come, death is exceedingly hard to meet—therefore, even on hearing this dreadful news, my heart does not break apart from sorrow.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage reflects on kāla (the appointed time): when one’s destined hour has not arrived, even overwhelming sorrow may not ‘break’ a person, suggesting a mysterious restraint imposed by fate/time and the endurance of the human heart amid calamity.
The speaker, addressing Kṛṣṇa as Vṛṣṇinandana, laments Abhimanyu’s death in battle—marveling at how such a noble youth was killed by enemies—and expresses stunned grief, wondering why his heart has not shattered despite hearing such dreadful news.