Shloka 5

Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni

Book 11, Chapter 24

Devanagari script

दिष्ट्या यूपध्वजं पुत्र वीर॑ भूरिसहस्रदम्‌ । अनेकक्रतुयज्वानं निहतं नानुपश्यसि

Transliteration

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | diṣṭyā yūpadhvajaṃ putra vīra bhūrisahasradam | anekakratuyajvānaṃ nihataṃ nānupaśyasi ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “By good fortune, O son, you do not behold the slain hero Yūpadhvaja—he who bestowed thousands in gifts and who had performed many sacrificial rites.”

Word by Word

• दिष्ट्या: fortunately; by good luck
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: दिष्टि
• Form: Avyaya (instrumental sense: 'by good fortune')

• यूपध्वजम्: Yūpadhvaja (name of a person; lit. 'having a sacrificial-post as banner')
• यूपध्वजम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: यूपध्वज
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• पुत्र: O son
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• वीर: O hero
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीर
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• भूरिसहस्रदम्: giver of many thousands (very munificent)
• भूरिसहस्रदम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भूरिसहस्रद
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अनेकक्रतुयज्वानम्: one who has performed many sacrifices
• अनेकक्रतुयज्वानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनेकक्रतुयज्वन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• निहतम्: slain; killed
• निहतम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-हन्
• Form: Past passive participle, Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न
• Form: Negation particle

• अनुपश्यसि: you see; you behold
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु-√पश्
• Form: Present tense (Lat), Parasmaipada, 2nd person, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Yūpadhvaja

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contrasts worldly merit—generosity and repeated sacrificial performance—with the harsh finality of war: even the highly meritorious can be cut down. It also frames compassionately that being spared the sight of a noble person’s corpse is itself a kind of ‘good fortune,’ highlighting the ethical horror and emotional cost of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Stree Parva’s lamentation setting after the great war, Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a fallen warrior named Yūpadhvaja, praised for lavish gifts and many sacrifices, and remarks that the addressed person does not have to witness him lying slain.