Shloka 12
पुण्डरीकाक्ष पश्यावां बालेन हि विनाकृतौ । अभिमन्युं च मां चैव हतौ तुल्यं जनार्दन,“कमलनयन! जनार्दन! देखिये, आज मैं और मेरे पति दोनों ही संतानहीन हो गये। आरयपुत्र तो युद्धमें वीरगतिको प्राप्त हुए हैं; परंतु मैं पुत्रशोकसे मारी गयी। इस प्रकार हम दोनों समान रूपसे ही कालके ग्रास बन गये
puṇḍarīkākṣa paśyāvāṃ bālena hi vinākṛtau | abhimanyuṃ ca māṃ caiva hatau tulyaṃ janārdana ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O lotus-eyed Janārdana, behold: we two have been left without a child. Abhimanyu has fallen, and I too am as good as slain—struck down by grief. Thus, in the same measure, we both have become prey to Death.”
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.