Shloka 36
स्त्रीपर्व — अध्याय १५: गान्धारी-युधिष्ठिर-संवादः
Gandhārī’s Confrontation and Consolation of Yudhiṣṭhira
अन्वशोचत दुःखार्ता द्रौपदी च हृतात्मजाम् | रुदतीमथ पाज्चालीं ददर्श पतितां भुवि
anvaśocat duḥkhārtā draupadī ca hṛtātmajām | rudatīm atha pāñcālīṃ dadarśa patitāṃ bhuvi
Vaiśampāyana said: Draupadī, stricken with grief, lamented for the one bereft of her sons. Then she saw the Pāñcālī woman lying fallen upon the ground, weeping—an image of war’s aftermath where even the righteous are compelled to confront unbearable loss and to respond with compassion amid ruin.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical reality that war’s consequences fall heavily on the innocent; dharma in such moments is expressed not through victory but through humane recognition of suffering and compassionate response to others’ grief.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Draupadī, overwhelmed with sorrow, laments for a woman who has lost her sons, and then sees the Pāñcālī woman lying on the ground, crying—depicting the scene of mourning in the Strī Parva after the devastation of the war.