Shloka 11
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
समासाद्य कुरुक्षेत्रं ता: स्त्रियो निहतेश्वरा: । अपश्यन्त हतांस्तत्र पुत्रान् भ्रातृन् पितृन् पतीन्,कुरुक्षेत्रमें पहुँचकर उन अनाथ स्त्रियोंने वहाँ मारे गये अपने पुत्रों, भाइयों, पिताओं तथा पतियोंके शरीरोंको देखा, जिन्हें मांसभक्षी जीव-जन्तु, गीदड़समूह, कौए, भूत, पिशाच, राक्षस और नाना प्रकारके निशाचर नोच-नोचकर खा रहे थे
samāsādya kurukṣetraṃ tāḥ striyo nihatēśvarāḥ | apaśyanta hatāṃs tatra putrān bhrātṝn pitṝn patīn |
Vaiśampāyana said: Having reached Kurukṣetra, those women—now bereft of their lords and protectors—beheld there their slain sons, brothers, fathers, and husbands. The scene lays bare the moral cost of war: when rulers fall, the vulnerable are left to confront grief and the desecration of the dead, and the triumph of victory is eclipsed by the suffering of families.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical reckoning after war: the fall of rulers leaves dependents unprotected, and the true weight of conflict is measured in human loss and grief rather than victory.
After arriving at Kurukṣetra, the bereaved women see the bodies of their slain relatives—sons, brothers, fathers, and husbands—on the battlefield, initiating the lamentation and mourning central to the Strī Parva.