Shloka 58
शेते विनिहतो भूमौ वने सिंहशिशुर्यथा,“आचार्य! तुम जिसके लिये हथियार उठाते हो और जिसका मुँह देखकर जीते हो, वह तुम्हारा सदाका प्यारा पुत्र अश्वत्थामा पृथ्वीपर मार गिराया गया है। जैसे वनमें सिंहका बच्चा सोता है, उसी प्रकार वह रणभूमिमें मरा पड़ा है”
śete vinihato bhūmau vane siṁhaśiśur yathā
Kṛpa said: “He lies slain upon the ground, like a lion’s cub in the forest.” In this moment the simile heightens the shock and pathos of the battlefield: the fallen is portrayed not as weak, but as a young, noble, and formidable being cut down. The line functions as a moral jolt—war reduces even the cherished and valorous to lifeless bodies on the earth, confronting the hearer with grief, attachment, and the harsh consequences of martial duty.
कृप उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the tragic impartiality of death in war: even the strong and beloved can be brought low. By comparing the slain to a lion-cub, it evokes nobility and potential cut short, pressing the listener to confront the ethical weight of violence and the sorrow born of attachment.
Kṛpa speaks on the battlefield, announcing that a warrior lies killed on the ground. The image “like a lion’s cub in the forest” intensifies the emotional impact, presenting the fallen as courageous and precious, and signaling a moment of shock and lament within the Drona Parva war narrative.