Shloka 21
Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)
इतो दुःखतरं कि नु यन्मे माता सुखैधिता । भूमौ निपतितं वीरमनुशेते मृतं पतिम्
ito duḥkhataraṃ ki nu yan me mātā sukhaiḍhitā | bhūmau nipatitaṃ vīram anuśete mṛtaṃ patim ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Quel chagrin pourrait être plus grand que celui-ci ? Ma mère, élevée dans l’aisance, gît à présent sur le sol auprès de son époux héroïque tombé, l’enlaçant comme un mort, résolue à le suivre dans la mort.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of marital fidelity and the human cost of heroic death: even those raised in comfort can be driven by devotion and grief to extreme vows, highlighting how dharma and personal attachment collide in moments of loss.
The speaker reports a scene of intense mourning: his mother, formerly accustomed to ease, is now on the ground beside her fallen heroic husband, holding him as if dead and expressing a resolve to die with him—presented as the peak of the narrator’s sorrow.