Mahabharata — Ashramavasika Parva, Shloka 42
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
तथा कृष्णस्य भगिनी सुभद्रा भद्रभाषिणी । सौभद्रवधसंतप्ता भृशं॑ शोचति भाविनी
tathā kṛṣṇasya bhaginī subhadrā bhadrabhāṣiṇī | saubhadra-vadha-santaptā bhṛśaṃ śocati bhāvinī ||
વૈશંપાયન બોલ્યા— તેમજ કૃષ્ણની ભગિની, મધુર વાણીવાળી સુભદ્રા, સૌભદ્ર (અભિમન્યુ)ના વધથી સંતપ્ત થઈ અત્યંત શોક કરે છે.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical residue of violence: even when war is framed within dharma, its human cost persists as profound grief for families. It reminds the reader that righteousness does not cancel suffering, and compassion for mourners is itself a dharmic response.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana describes Subhadrā, Kṛṣṇa’s sister and Abhimanyu’s mother, grieving intensely because of Abhimanyu’s killing. It is part of the broader depiction of the survivors’ sorrow in the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.