Shloka 15
Gāndhārī’s Lament and the Identification of Duḥśāsana (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १८)
फुल्लपद्मप्रकाशानि पुण्डरीकाक्ष योषिताम् | अनवद्यानि वक्त्राणि तापयत्येष रश्मिवान्,कमलनयन! खिले हुए कमलके समान प्रकाशित होनेवाले युवतियोंके इन सुन्दर मुखोंको ये सूर्यदेव संतप्त कर रहे हैं
phullapadmaprakāśāni puṇḍarīkākṣa yoṣitām | anavadyāni vaktrāṇi tāpayatyeṣa raśmivān, kamalanayana |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O lotus-eyed one, the radiant sun, with his burning rays, is scorching these faultless faces of the women—faces that shine like fully blossomed lotuses.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse heightens moral sensitivity to the suffering of the blameless: after war, even ordinary forces like the sun’s heat become instruments that expose the vulnerability of innocents, urging compassion and ethical reflection on the costs of violence.
In the Strī Parva’s aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, Vaiśampāyana describes a scene of women in distress; their beautiful, faultless faces—likened to blooming lotuses—are being scorched by the sun, intensifying the atmosphere of mourning.