Shloka 12
Uttarā-vilāpaḥ and Kṛṣṇasya satya-vacanenābhi-mañyu-jasyābhijīvanam
Uttarā’s Lament and the Revival of Abhimanyu’s Son by Krishna’s Truth-Act
पुण्डरीकाक्ष पश्यावां बालेन हि विनाकृतौ । अभिमन्युं च मां चैव हतौ तुल्यं जनार्दन
puṇḍarīkākṣa paśyāvāṃ bālena hi vinākṛtau | abhimanyuṃ ca māṃ caiva hatau tulyaṃ janārdana ||
“પુંડરીકાક્ષ જનાર્દન! જુઓ— અમે બંને સંતાનથી વંચિત થઈ ગયા છીએ. અભિમન્યુ હણાયો છે અને હું પણ શોકથી જાણે હણાઈ ગઈ છું; આ રીતે અમે બંને સમાન રીતે મૃત્યુના ગ્રાસ બન્યા છીએ.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how death in war and death-by-grief can be ethically and existentially equivalent: even when a warrior attains heroic death, the survivors may be ‘killed’ by sorrow. It underscores compassion as a necessary complement to dharma, acknowledging the human cost of righteous conflict.
A lament is voiced to Kṛṣṇa (addressed as Puṇḍarīkākṣa/Janārdana): Abhimanyu has been slain, and the speaker declares herself equally destroyed by grief, emphasizing that both—fallen son and grieving mother—are alike overtaken by Death.