Shloka 41
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
सर्वेष्वपररात्रेषु याननन्दन्त बन्दिन: । स्तुतिभिश्न पराधघ्याभिरुपचारैश्व शिक्षिता:,'वृष्णिसिंह! प्राय: प्रत्येक रात्रिके पिछले पहरमें सुशिक्षित बन्दीजन उत्तम स्तुतियों और उपचाोरोंद्वारा जिन्हें आनन्दित करते थे, उन्हींके पास आज ये दुःख और शोकसे अत्यन्त पीड़ित हुई सुन्दरी युवतियाँ करुण विलाप कर रही हैं
sarveṣv apararātreṣu yān anandanta bandinaḥ | stutibhiś ca parārdhyābhir upacāraiś ca śikṣitāḥ || vṛṣṇisiṃha! prāyaḥ pratyeka-rātrike paścime pahare suśikṣitā bandijanā uttama-stutibhiḥ upacāraiś ca yān ānanditavantaḥ, teṣām eva pāśve ’dya duḥkha-śoka-samarpitāḥ sundaryaḥ yuvatayaḥ karuṇaṃ vilapanti ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O lion among the Vṛṣṇis! Those very persons whom, on former nights, well-trained bards used to delight in the last watch with excellent praises and refined courtesies—beside them today these beautiful young women, overwhelmed by grief and sorrow, are wailing in pitiful lament.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores impermanence: the same courtly pleasures—praise, honor, and nightly entertainments—are eclipsed by the consequences of violence. It implicitly warns that worldly glory and refined ceremony cannot shield one from the moral and emotional aftermath of war.
In the aftermath of the great slaughter, the scene contrasts earlier nights when trained bards delighted nobles with praise and courtesies, with the present moment when bereaved young women, crushed by sorrow, cry out in lament beside those same figures.