Shloka 68
द्वैपायनह्रदे दुर्योधनान्वेषणम् / The Search for Duryodhana at Dvaipāyana Lake
कुरर्य इव शब्देन नादयन्त्यो महीतलम् | उस समय वहाँ अपने पतियोंको पुकारती और रोती-बिलखती हुई राजमहिलाओंका महान् आर्तनाद सब ओर गूँज उठा। राजन! अपनी सेना और पतियोंके संहारका समाचार सुनकर वे राजकुलकी युवतियाँ अपने आर्तनादसे भूतलको प्रतिध्वनित करती हुई बारंबार कुररीकी भाँति विलाप करने लगीं || ६६-६७ $ || आजलसघ्नु: करजैश्वापि पाणिभिश्न शिरांस्युत
kuraryā iva śabdena nādayantyo mahītalam |
Sañjaya said: With cries like those of a kurarī-bird, the royal women made the very earth resound. Hearing the tidings that their husbands and the army had been slain, the young women of noble houses repeatedly wailed, their lamentation echoing across the ground—an image that underscores the moral cost of war, where victory is inseparable from widespread grief.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical aftermath of warfare: beyond battlefield outcomes, the true weight of violence is borne by families and society. The kurarī-like wailing symbolizes how adharma and mass killing reverberate as collective suffering.
Sañjaya describes the reaction of royal women upon hearing that their husbands and the army have been destroyed. Their cries spread everywhere, making the earth itself seem to echo with lamentation.