Shloka 4
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
ददर्श सा बुद्धिमती दूरादपि यथान्तिके । रणाजिरं नृवीराणामद्भुतं लोमहर्षणम्,बुद्धिमती गान्धारीने नरवीरोंके उस अद्भुत एवं रोमांचकारी समरांगणको दूरसे भी उसी तरह देखा, जैसे निकटसे देखा जाता है
dadarśa sā buddhimatī dūrād api yathāntike | raṇājiraṁ nṛvīrāṇām adbhutaṁ lomaharṣaṇam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The wise Gāndhārī beheld the battlefield of heroic men—marvellous and hair-raising—and she saw it from afar as clearly as if it were right before her. The verse underscores the extraordinary, almost superhuman clarity of her perception amid the moral shock of war’s aftermath.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the stark moral clarity forced by war’s consequences: even from afar, the reality of the battlefield becomes unmistakable. It suggests that wisdom does not soften the truth; rather, it perceives suffering and the cost of adharma with piercing immediacy.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Gāndhārī, endowed with extraordinary discernment, beholds the battlefield of fallen heroes. Though physically distant, she perceives it as if it were near—setting the stage for her grief and her confrontation with the devastation of the Kurukṣetra war.