Shloka 44
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
यस्यास्तु श्वशुरो धीमान् बाह्विक: स कुरूद्गवह: । निहतः सोमदत्तश्न पित्रा सह महारणे
yasyāstu śvaśuro dhīmān bāhvikaḥ sa kurūdgavaḥ | nihataḥ somadattaś ca pitrā saha mahāraṇe ||
जिसका बुद्धिमान श्वशुर, कुरुवंश का श्रेष्ठ बाह्लिक, मारा गया; और सोमदत्त भी अपने पिता सहित उस महासमर में मारा गया।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the sweeping, lineage-wide cost of war: even revered elders and protectors fall, intensifying the moral weight of violence and the inevitability of loss that follows conflict.
Vaiśampāyana recounts the deaths of Kuru elders—Bāhlika and Somadatta (with his father)—as part of the great war, explaining the depth of bereavement surrounding the surviving family members.