Mahabharata 11.25.34 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 25, Shloka 34
स्त्री-विलापः — गान्धार्याः रणभूमिदर्शनं शापवचनं च
Battlefield Lament and Gāndhārī’s Curse
माधव! निश्चय ही दैवके लिये कोई भी कार्य अधिक कठिन नहीं है; क्योंकि उसने क्षत्रियोंद्वारा ही इन शूरवीर क्षत्रियशिरोमणियोंका संहार कर डाला है ।।
tadaiva nihatāḥ kṛṣṇa mama putrās tarasvinaḥ | yadaivākṛtakāmas tvaṃ upaplavyaṃ gataḥ punaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : « Ô Kṛṣṇa, mes fils, rapides et vaillants, furent tués ce jour-là même—au moment précis où toi, ton dessein inachevé, tu retournas encore à Upaplavya. Le cours des événements montre combien la destinée est inexorable : elle mène à la ruine même des plus grands guerriers, par l’entremise des kṣatriya eux-mêmes. »
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inexorability of daiva (destiny) in the aftermath of war: even the strongest are swept away, and human plans—even Kṛṣṇa’s diplomatic efforts—may remain unfulfilled when the larger moral and cosmic momentum has turned toward destruction.
In the lament-filled context of the Strī Parva, the narrator reports a grief-stricken recollection addressed to Kṛṣṇa: the speaker’s sons were killed on the very day Kṛṣṇa returned to Upaplavya without achieving his intended aim—an allusion to the failure of peace efforts and the immediate slide into catastrophic slaughter.
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