Shloka 12
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 115 — Mādri’s request; invocation of the Aśvins; birth and naming of the Pāṇḍavas
सोदरं घातयामास गान्धारी दुःखमूर्च्छिता । ततो जज्ञे मांसपेशी लोहाषछ्ठीलेव संहता,उसे अपने उदरकी स्थिरतापर बड़ी चिन्ता हुई। गान्धारी दुः:खसे मूर्च्छित हो रही थी। उसने धृतराष्ट्रकी अनजानमें ही महान् प्रयत्न करके अपने उदरपर आघात किया। तब उसके गर्भसे एक मांसका पिण्ड प्रकट हुआ, जो लोहेके पिण्डके समान कड़ा था
vaiśampāyana uvāca | sodaraṃ ghātayāmāsa gāndhārī duḥkhamūrcchitā | tato jajñe māṃsapeśī lohāśaṣṭhīleva saṃhatā ||
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: Abrumada y casi desvanecida por el dolor, Gāndhārī golpeó su propio vientre. De ello surgió una masa compacta de carne, dura y consolidada como un lingote de hierro, un giro ominoso en la narración.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how overwhelming grief and impatience can lead to harmful actions that disrupt the natural order, setting in motion consequences that shape an entire lineage. It also functions as a narrative omen: extraordinary births often signal extraordinary—and often troubling—future outcomes.
Gāndhārī, distressed to the point of fainting, strikes her own abdomen. Instead of a normal birth, a single dense mass of flesh emerges, described as hard like iron—an unusual event that foreshadows the later developments surrounding the Kaurava line.