Shloka 31
Adhyāya 17 — Gandhārī’s Vilāpa at Duryodhana’s Body (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १७)
पुण्डरीकनिभा भाति पुण्डरीकान्तरप्रभा । मुखं विमृज्य पुत्रस्य भर्तुश्चैव तपस्विनी,“कमलपुष्पके भीतरी भागकी-सी मनोहर कान्तिवाली मेरी तपस्विनी पुत्रवधू जो प्रफुल्ल कमलके समान सुशोभित हो रही है, कभी अपने पुत्रका मुँह पोंछती है तो कभी अपने पतिका
puṇḍarīkanibhā bhāti puṇḍarīkāntaraprabhā | mukhaṁ vimṛjya putrasya bhartuś caiva tapasvinī |
Bercahaya laksana teratai putih, berkilau seperti sinar di dalam teratai, perempuan pertapa itu terus mengusap wajah putranya dan juga wajah suaminya.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in overwhelming sorrow, dharma can appear as simple compassionate action: caring for one’s family with steadiness and tenderness. The lotus imagery elevates such service into a moral ideal—purity and inner light persisting amid suffering.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes an ascetic, lotus-radiant woman who alternately wipes the face of her son and her husband—an intimate scene of caregiving set within the lamentation-filled aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war in the Strī Parva.