Shloka 15
Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni
Book 11, Chapter 24
“उनसे भी बढ़कर घोर पापकर्म सात्यकिने किया है; क्योंकि उन्होंने आमरण अनशनके लिये बैठे हुए एक शुद्धात्मा साधुपुरुषके ऊपर खड़्गका प्रहार किया है ।। एको द्वाभ्यां हतः शेषे त्वमधर्मेण धार्मिक । कि नु वक्ष्यति वै सत्सु गोष्ठछीषु च सभासु च,“धर्मात्मा महापुरुष! तुम अकेले दो महारथियोंद्वारा अधर्मपूर्वक मारे जाकर रणभूमिमें सो रहे हो। भला, सात्यकि साधु पुरुषोंकी सभाओं और बैठकोंमें अपने लिये कलंकका टीका लगानेवाले इस पापकर्मका वर्णन स्वयं अपने ही मुखसे किस प्रकार करेंगे?” माधव! इस प्रकार यूपध्वजकी ये स्त्रियाँ सात्यकिको कोस रही हैं
vaishampāyana uvāca |
tebhyo 'pi bhayānakaṃ pāpakarma sātyakinā kṛtam | yato 'nena prāṇānte 'nashanāya niṣaṇṇaṃ śuddhātmānaṃ sādhupuruṣam upari khaḍgena prahāraḥ kṛtaḥ ||
eko dvābhyāṃ hataḥ śeṣe tvam adharmeṇa dhārmika | kiṃ nu vakṣyati vai satsu goṣṭhīṣu ca sabhāsu ca |
"dharmātmā mahāpuruṣa! tvam ekaḥ dvābhyāṃ mahārathābhyām adharma-pūrvakaṃ hataḥ raṇabhūmau śete | sātyakiḥ kathaṃ nu svayam eva mukhena sādhu-puruṣa-sabhāsu goṣṭhīṣu ca ātmanaḥ kalaṅka-ṭīkā-kārakaṃ etat pāpakarma varṇayiṣyati?" |
iti mādhava yūpadhvajasya striyaḥ sātyakiṃ śapanti sma |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Even more dreadful than those deeds is the sinful act committed by Sātyaki: he struck with a sword a pure-souled holy man who had sat down to fast until death. ‘O righteous one, you lie on the battlefield—slain unjustly, alone, by two great warriors. What will Sātyaki say among the good, in their gatherings and assemblies, when he must describe with his own mouth this wicked deed that brands him with disgrace?’ Thus, O Mādhava, the women of Yūpadhvaja were cursing Sātyaki.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage condemns violence that violates dharma—especially harming a pure, ascetic figure engaged in a death-fast—and stresses that immoral acts bring lasting public disgrace among the virtuous.
In the aftermath of the war, the women connected with Yūpadhvaja lament and denounce Sātyaki, accusing him of a grievous wrongdoing and asking how he could ever justify it before honorable people in assemblies.