Shloka 42

आयोधनदर्शनम्

Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra

Devanagari script

तानिमा: परिदेवन्ति दुःखार्ता: परमाड़ना: । कृपणं वृष्णिशार्दूल दुःखशोकार्दिता भूशम्‌,'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

Transliteration

tānimāḥ paridevanti duḥkhārtāḥ paramāḍanāḥ | kṛpaṇaṁ vṛṣṇiśārdūla duḥkhaśokārditā bhūśam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Those women, crushed by grief and utterly tormented, now lament piteously. O tiger among the Vṛṣṇis, overwhelmed by sorrow and anguish, they wail aloud.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tāḥ', 'definition': 'those (women)'}, {'term': 'imāḥ', 'definition': 'these (here, emphatic with tāḥ: ‘those very women’)'}, {'term': 'paridevanti', 'definition': 'lament, wail, mourn aloud'}, {'term': 'duḥkhārtāḥ', 'definition': 'afflicted by suffering

• distressed'}, {'term': 'paramāḍanāḥ', 'definition': 'extremely tormented

• in great agony (intensive sense)'}, {'term': 'kṛpaṇam', 'definition': 'piteously

• in a wretched manner'}, {'term': 'vṛṣṇiśārdūla', 'definition': '‘tiger among the Vṛṣṇis’ (honorific address, typically to Kṛṣṇa)'}, {'term': 'duḥkha-śoka-arditāḥ', 'definition': 'struck/overpowered by suffering and grief'}, {'term': 'bhūśam', 'definition': 'greatly, exceedingly, intensely'}]

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Vṛṣṇiśārdūla (address to a Vṛṣṇi hero, commonly Kṛṣṇa)
• the grieving women (widows/royal women of the slain)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical and emotional cost of war: victory is inseparable from widespread suffering. By highlighting the women’s piteous lamentation, the narrative urges compassion and sober reflection on the consequences of violence and the fragility of worldly joy.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Strī Parva, after the great slaughter, the women connected to the fallen heroes are shown overwhelmed by grief. Vaiśampāyana describes them wailing intensely, addressing a leading Vṛṣṇi (often understood as Kṛṣṇa) as witness to their sorrow.