Shloka 14
Adhyāya 17 — Gandhārī’s Vilāpa at Duryodhana’s Body (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १७)
य॑ं पुरा पर्युपासीना रमयन्ति महीक्षित: । महीतलस्थं निहतं गृध्रास्तं पर्युपासते,“जिसके पास पहले राजा लोग बैठकर उसे आनन्द प्रदान करते थे, आज मरकर धरतीपर पड़े उसी वीरके पास गीध बैठे हुए हैं
yaṁ purā paryupāsīnā ramayanti mahīkṣitaḥ | mahītalasthaṁ nihataṁ gṛdhrās taṁ paryupāsate ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “He whom kings once surrounded, seated near him and delighting him with their attendance—now lies slain upon the earth; and vultures sit around that very hero.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the impermanence of worldly honor: one who was once surrounded by kings in reverence can, after death, lie on the ground surrounded only by scavenging birds. It presses an ethical reflection on the cost of war and the fragility of status, urging detachment from pride and a sober view of human mortality.
In the aftermath of the great battle, the narrator describes a fallen warrior’s body on the battlefield. Where royal attendants once gathered around him in life, vultures now gather around him in death—an image meant to intensify the lamentation and horror of the carnage.