Shloka 231
“वीर! आप पाण्डवों और पांचालोंके देखते-देखते सनाथ होते हुए भी अनाथकी भाँति कैसे मारे गये? ।। दृष्टवा बहुभिराक्रन्दे निहतं त्वां पिता तव । वीर: पुरुषशार्दटूल: कथं जीवति पाण्डव:
vīra! āp pāṇḍavoṃ aura pāñcāloṃ ke dekhate-dekhate sanātha hote hue bhī anātha-kī bhānti kaise māre gaye? dṛṣṭvā bahubhir ākrande nihataṃ tvāṃ pitā tava | vīraḥ puruṣaśārdūlaḥ kathaṃ jīvati pāṇḍavaḥ ||
«Ô héros ! Comment as-tu pu être tué sous les yeux mêmes des Pāṇḍavas et des Pāñcālas—alors que tu avais des protecteurs—comme si tu étais totalement sans refuge ? T’ayant vu tomber au milieu des cris et des lamentations de tant de gens, comment ton père pourrait-il continuer à vivre ? Et comment ce Pāṇḍava—héros, tigre parmi les hommes—pourrait-il encore respirer ?»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse intensifies the moral shock of war: even the protected can be cut down, and the community’s cries cannot undo death. It highlights the fragility of human security and the ethical weight of violence—how a single killing radiates suffering through families (the father’s unbearable grief) and allies.
In the Strī-parvan’s mourning atmosphere, the speaker voices a lament addressed to a fallen hero, questioning how he could be slain in full view of his allies (the Pāṇḍavas and Pāñcālas). The lament then turns to the survivor’s agony: how can the slain man’s father—and the renowned Pāṇḍava hero—continue living after witnessing such a death amid widespread wailing.