Shloka 20
स्त्रीपर्व — गान्धारीविलापः
Strī Parva — Gāndhārī’s Lament over the Fallen
दुःसहस्यैतदाभाति शरीरं संवृतं शरै: । गिरिरात्मगतै: फुल्लै: कर्णिकारैरिवाचित:,उसी दुःसहका यह शरीर बाणोंसे खचाखच भरा हुआ है, जो अपने ऊपर खिले हुए कनेरके फूलोंसे व्याप्त पर्वतके समान सुशोभित होता है
duḥsahasyaitad ābhāti śarīraṁ saṁvṛtaṁ śaraiḥ | girir ātmagataiḥ phullaiḥ karṇikārair ivācitaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “This is the body of Duḥsaha, now appearing densely covered with arrows. It looks like a mountain spread over with fully blossomed karṇikāra flowers growing upon it—strangely adorned even in the midst of violent death.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the tragic irony of war: even a slain body can be described with aesthetic imagery, reminding the listener that beauty and horror can coexist in human perception, and that martial glory is inseparable from suffering and impermanence.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana describes Duḥsaha’s corpse on the battlefield, pierced and covered with arrows, comparing it to a mountain covered with blooming karṇikāra flowers—an image that heightens the pathos of the post-war scene.