Shloka 1
अभिमन्युविलापः (Abhimanyu-vilāpa) — Uttarā’s lament, observed and framed by Gandhārī
गान्धारी बोलीं--दशा्ईनन्दन केशव! जिसे बल और शौर्यमें अपने पितासे तथा तुमसे भी डेढ़ गुना बताया जाता था, जो प्रचण्ड सिंहके समान अभिमानमें भरा रहता था, जिसने अकेले ही मेरे पुत्रके दुर्भद्य व्यूहको तोड़ डाला था, वही अभिमन्यु दूसरोंकी मृत्यु बनकर स्वयं भी मृत्युके अधीन हो गया
gāndhārī uvāca—daśārha-nandana keśava! yaḥ bala-śaurye pituḥ tvatto 'pi ca sārdha-guṇam iti kathyate sma, yaḥ pracaṇḍa-siṃha iva garveṇa pūritaḥ, yenaikenaiva mama putrasya durbhedya-vyūhaḥ prabhinnaḥ, sa evābhimanyuḥ pareṣāṃ mṛtyur bhūtvā svayam api mṛtyu-vaśaṃ gataḥ.
Gāndhārī said: “O Keśava, delight of the Daśārhas! He who was spoken of as surpassing even his father—and even you—in strength and heroism by half again; he who stood swollen with pride like a fierce lion; he who, all alone, shattered the hard-to-break battle-formation of my sons—this very Abhimanyu, who became death to others, has himself fallen under the dominion of death.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the greatest valor and extraordinary prowess cannot overrule mortality; the passage underscores the ethical gravity of war—how triumph and destruction culminate in grief, and how death ultimately levels all, including those who seemed invincible.
In the aftermath of the war, Gāndhārī addresses Kṛṣṇa, recalling Abhimanyu’s exceptional strength and his breaking of the Kauravas’ formidable formation; she laments that the very warrior who became ‘death’ to others has himself been claimed by death.