Shloka 4
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Bereavement and the Averted Assault on Bhīma (Āyasī Pratimā Episode)
दुर्योधनबलान्मुक्ता वयमेव त्रयो रथा: । सर्वमन्यत् परिक्षीणं सैन्यं ते भरतर्षभ,“भरतश्रेष्ठ! दुर्योधनकी सेनासे केवल हम तीन रथी ही जीवित बचे हैं। आपकी अन्य सारी सेना नष्ट हो गयी”
duryodhanabalān muktā vayam eva trayo rathāḥ | sarvam anyat parikṣīṇaṃ sainyaṃ te bharatarṣabha ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Freed from (the ruin of) Duryodhana’s forces, only we three chariot-warriors remain alive. All the rest of your army has been utterly destroyed, O bull among the Bharatas.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic cost of adharma-driven conflict: even vast armies are reduced to near-total ruin, highlighting impermanence and the moral weight of war’s consequences.
A narrator reports that from Duryodhana’s side only three chariot-warriors remain alive, while the rest of the addressed person’s army has been completely destroyed—setting the grim context for the lamentations and mourning central to the Strī Parva.