Shloka 13

अभिमन्युविलापः (Abhimanyu-vilāpa) — Uttarā’s lament, observed and framed by Gandhārī

Devanagari script

व्यायम्य बहुधा नूनं सुखसुप्त: श्रमादिव । एवं विलपतीमार्ता न हि मामभिभाषसे,“निश्चय ही बहुत परिश्रम करके मानो थक जानेके कारण आप सुखकी नींद ले रहे हो। मैं इस तरह आर्त होकर विलाप करती हूँ, किंतु आप मुझसे बोलतेतक नहीं हैं

Transliteration

vyāyamya bahudhā nūnaṃ sukhasuptaḥ śramādiva | evaṃ vilapatīmārtā na hi māmabhibhāṣase ||

Translation

Sungguh, setelah berjerih payah dalam banyak cara, kini engkau terlelap dalam tidur yang manis, seakan ditundukkan oleh lelah. Aku meratap dengan hati remuk begini, namun engkau tak juga menyapaku.

Word by Word

व्यायम्यhaving exerted

बहुधाin many ways / much

नूनम्surely

सुखसुप्तःasleep comfortably

श्रमात्from fatigue

इवas if

एवम्thus / in this way

विलपतीlamenting

आर्ताdistressed

नnot

हिindeed / for

माम्me

अभिभाषसेyou speak to / address

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the human cost of war: grief seeks response and recognition, but death (or emotional numbness) answers with silence. Ethically, it underscores compassion as a needed counterweight to violence—when speech and relationship break down, suffering intensifies.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, a bereaved woman addresses a silent figure—most naturally a dead or unresponsive loved one—saying he seems to be sleeping peacefully after great exertion, while she laments in anguish and receives no reply.