Shloka 12

स्त्रीपर्व — गान्धारीविलापः

Strī Parva — Gāndhārī’s Lament over the Fallen

Devanagari script

तं चित्रमाल्याभरणं युवत्य: शोककर्शिता: । क्रव्यादसंघै: सहिता रुदत्य: पर्युपासते,विचित्र माला और आभूषण धारण करनेवाले उस चित्रसेनको घेरकर शोकसे कातर हो रोती हुई युवतियाँ हिंसक जन्तुओंके साथ उसके पास बैठी हैं

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

taṃ citramālyābharaṇaṃ yuvatyāḥ śokakarśitāḥ |

kravyādasaṃghaiḥ sahitā rudatyaḥ paryupāsate ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: The young women, worn away by grief, weeping, and attended by packs of flesh-eating creatures, sit all around that man adorned with splendid garlands and ornaments. The scene lays bare war’s moral inversion: beauty and adornment still cling to the body, yet life, protection, and human order have collapsed, and mourners and scavengers share the same ground.

Word by Word

तम्him/that (one)

चित्र-माल्य-आभरणम्adorned with variegated garlands and ornaments

युवत्यःyoung women

शोक-कर्शिताःemaciated/afflicted by grief

क्रव्याद-संघैःwith groups of flesh-eaters (carnivores/scavengers)

सहिताःaccompanied (together) with

रुदत्यःweeping

परि-उपासतेsit around/attend upon

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

citramālyābharaṇa (garlands and ornaments)

yuvatyāḥ (young women)

kravyādasaṃghāḥ (packs of flesh-eating creatures)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical cost of war: when dharma and protection fail, even the boundary between human mourning and animal scavenging collapses. External splendor (garlands, ornaments) cannot shield one from the consequences of violence and impermanence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of the great slaughter, grief-stricken young women keep vigil around an adorned fallen man, crying, while packs of flesh-eating creatures also gather nearby—an image of desolation and the battlefield’s harsh reality.