Shloka 32

अभिमन्युविलापः (Abhimanyu-vilāpa) — Uttarā’s lament, observed and framed by Gandhārī

Devanagari script

वितुद्यमानं विहगैरविराटमसितेक्षणा: । न शवनुवन्ति विहगान्‌ निवारयितुमातुरा:

Transliteration

vitudyamānaṃ vihagair avirāṭam asitekṣaṇāḥ | na śaknuvanti vihagān nivārayitum āturāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : Les femmes aux yeux sombres, accablées et bouleversées, ne purent repousser les oiseaux qui continuaient à picorer le corps, exposé, sans protection ni éclat royal. La scène souligne l’impuissance des endeuillées et l’indignité que la guerre peut infliger même après que la vie s’est retirée.

Word by Word

वितुद्यमानम्being pecked/tormented

विहगैःby birds

अविराटम्Avirāṭa (proper name)

असितेक्षणाःblack-eyed (women)

नnot

शक्नुवन्तिare able

विहगान्the birds

निवारयितुम्to restrain/ward off

आतुराःdistressed, agitated

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

birds (vihagāḥ)

dark-eyed women (asitekṣaṇāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the vulnerability of human life and honor in the wake of war: even the dead may suffer indignity, and the living—though full of love and grief—can be powerless to protect. It implicitly critiques the cruelty and far-reaching consequences of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the lament-filled aftermath described in the Strī Parva, anguished women stand near the fallen and try to protect the body from scavenging birds, but in their distress they cannot successfully drive them away.