Shloka 20

आयोधनदर्शनम्

Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra

Devanagari script

वीरसूभिम्महाराज हतपुत्राभिरावृतम्‌ । क्वचिच्च वीरपत्नीभि्हतवीराभिरावृतम्‌,“महाराज! कहीं तो जिनके पुत्र मारे गये हैं उन वीरप्रसविनी माताओंसे और कहीं जिनके पति वीरगतिको प्राप्त हो गये हैं, उन वीरपत्नियोंसे यह युद्धस्थल घिर गया है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca |

Vīrasūbhir mahārāja hataputrābhir āvṛtam |

Kvacic ca vīrapatnībhiḥ hatavīrābhir āvṛtam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, the battlefield was enveloped—here by heroic mothers whose sons had been slain, and there by the wives of heroes whose husbands had met a warrior’s death. The scene was crowded with grief-stricken women, making the cost of war visible in the bodies and voices of those left behind.”

Word by Word

वीरheroic

सूभिःby mothers (women who have borne sons)

महाराजO great king

हतslain

पुत्राभिःby (those whose) sons

आवृतम्is surrounded/covered

क्वचित्somewhere

चand

वीरof heroes/heroic

पत्नीभिःby wives

हतslain

वीराभिःby heroes (whose heroes are slain)

आवृतम्is surrounded/covered

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mahārāja (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya by context)

battlefield (yuddhasthala/raṇabhūmi, implied)

bereaved mothers (vīrasū, hataputrāḥ)

bereaved wives (vīrapatnī, hatavīrāḥ)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes