Shloka 29
Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni
Book 11, Chapter 24
यथैव मम पुत्राणां लोका: शस्त्रजिता: प्रभो । एवमस्यापि दुर्बुद्धेलोका: शस्त्रेण वै जिता:,प्रभो! जैसे मेरे पुत्रोंको शस्त्रोंद्वारा जीते हुए पुण्यलोक प्राप्त हुए हैं, उसी प्रकार इस दुर्बद्धि शकुनिको भी शस्त्रद्वारा जीते हुए उत्तम लोक प्राप्त होंगे
yathaiva mama putrāṇāṃ lokāḥ śastrajitāḥ prabho | evam asyāpi durbuddher lokāḥ śastreṇa vai jitāḥ, prabho ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O lord, just as my sons have attained blessed worlds won through the power of weapons, so too will this evil-minded Śakuni attain worlds won by weapons.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reflects the epic idea that one’s posthumous destination can be framed in terms of the means by which one lived and died: martial action yields “weapon-won” realms. It also carries an ethical tension—placing a notorious wrongdoer (Śakuni) under the same formula highlights how the Mahābhārata often distinguishes personal virtue from the impersonal workings of duty, role, and the consequences of war.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war (Strīparvan context of lamentation and reckoning), Vaiśaṃpāyana reports a statement comparing the fate of the speaker’s sons—who reached realms gained through battle—with the fate of Śakuni, asserting that even he will reach such “weapon-won” worlds.