Shloka 1
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
नफमशा (0) आस औ अत न (स्त्रीविलापपर्व) घोडशो< ध्याय: वेदव्यासजीके वरदानसे दिव्य दृष्टिसम्पन्न हुई गान्धारीका युद्धस्थलमें मारे गये योद्धाओं तथा रोती हुई बहुओंको देखकर श्रीकृष्णके सम्मुख विलाप वैशम्पायन उवाच एवमुकक््त्वा तु गान्धारी कुरूणामवकर्तनम् | अपश्यत्तत्र तिष्ठन्ती सर्व दिव्येन चक्षुषा,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! ऐसा कहकर गान्धारी देवीने वहीं खड़ी रहकर अपनी दिव्य दृष्टिसे कौरवोंका वह सारा विनाशस्थल देखा
vaiśampāyana uvāca | evam uktvā tu gāndhārī kurūṇām avakartanam | apaśyat tatra tiṣṭhantī sarvaṃ divyena cakṣuṣā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Having spoken thus, Gāndhārī, standing there, beheld with her divine sight the entire scene of destruction—the slaughter and ruin of the Kurus. The verse frames the aftermath of war as a moral catastrophe witnessed not through ordinary perception but through a granted, heightened vision, intensifying the ethical weight of grief and accountability.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical gravity of war: its outcome is not merely victory or defeat but total ruin that must be faced and seen. Gāndhārī’s divinely enabled vision symbolizes moral clarity—an unflinching confrontation with the consequences of adharma, attachment, and political ambition.
After speaking (in the preceding context), Gāndhārī remains on the spot and, through a boon granting divine sight, surveys the battlefield and the complete destruction of her lineage—the Kurus—setting the stage for her lament and the wider mourning of the women.