Shloka 17

आयोधनदर्शनम्

Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra

Devanagari script

ततः सा पुण्डरीकाक्षमामन्त्र्य पुरुषोत्तमम्‌ । कुरूणां वैशसं दृष्टवा इदं वचनमब्रवीत्‌,दुःखसे व्याकुलचित्त हुई युवतियोंके करुण-क्रन्दनसे वह अत्यन्त भयंकर युद्धस्थल सब ओरसे गूँज उठा। यह देखकर धर्मको जाननेवाली सुबलपुत्री गान्धारीने कमलनयन श्रीकृष्णको सम्बोधित करके कौरवोंके उस विनाशपर दृष्टिपात करते हुए कहा -

Transliteration

tataḥ sā puṇḍarīkākṣam āmantrya puruṣottamam | kurūṇāṁ vaiśasaṁ dṛṣṭvā idaṁ vacanam abravīt ||

Translation

Then she—Gāndhārī, the daughter of Subala—addressed lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person. Seeing the dreadful slaughter of the Kurus, she spoke these words, her mind shaken by grief as the battlefield resounded on every side with the pitiful wailing of the young women. The scene of ruin compelled her, a knower of dharma, to speak in moral anguish at the destruction of her lineage.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tataḥ', 'definition': 'then

• thereafter'}, {'term': 'sā', 'definition': 'she (Gāndhārī)'}, {'term': 'puṇḍarīkākṣa', 'definition': 'lotus-eyed (epithet of Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu)'}, {'term': 'āmantrya', 'definition': 'having addressed

• having called upon (absolutive of ā-mantr)'}, {'term': 'puruṣottama', 'definition': 'the सर्वोत्तम पुरुष

• Supreme Person (epithet of Kṛṣṇa)'}, {'term': 'kurūṇām', 'definition': 'of the Kurus (genitive plural)'}, {'term': 'vaiśasam', 'definition': 'slaughter

• dreadful destruction'}, {'term': 'dṛṣṭvā', 'definition': 'having seen'}, {'term': 'idam vacanam', 'definition': 'this statement

• these words'}, {'term': 'abravīt', 'definition': 'she said

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Gāndhārī
• Kṛṣṇa
• Puruṣottama
• Puṇḍarīkākṣa
• Kurus (Kauravas/Kuru lineage)
• battlefield (raṇabhūmi)