Shloka 46
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
“कौरववंशकी युवतियोंके ये सूर्य और सुवर्णके समान कान्तिमान् मुख रोष और रोदनसे ताम्रवर्णके हो गये हैं ।। श्यामानां वरवर्णानां गौरीणामेकवाससाम् | दुर्योधनवरस्त्रीणां पश्य वृन्दानि केशव,“केशव! सुन्दर कान्तिसे सम्पन्न, एकवस्त्रधारिणी तथा श्याम-गौरवर्णवाली दुर्योधनकी इन सुन्दरी स्त्रियोंकी टोलियोंको देखो
kauravavaṁśakī yuvatīnāṁ ye sūrya-suvarṇayoḥ samāna-kāntimantaḥ mukhāni roṣa-rodana-tāmra-varṇakāni bhūtāni || śyāmānāṁ vara-varṇānāṁ gaurīṇām eka-vāsasām | duryodhana-vara-strīṇāṁ paśya vṛndāni keśava ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “The faces of the young women of the Kuru line—once radiant like the sun and like gold—have now turned coppery from anger and incessant weeping. O Keśava, behold these groups of Duryodhana’s noble women: some dark-complexioned, some fair, all of exquisite beauty, now clad in a single garment—gathered in grief after the ruin brought by war.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral aftermath of war: even those once surrounded by splendor are reduced to visible suffering. It highlights how anger and conflict culminate in collective grief, especially borne by women and families, pointing to the ethical cost of violence beyond the battlefield.
In the Stree Parva’s lamentation scenes after the Kurukṣetra war, the narrator describes the Kuru women—particularly Duryodhana’s household—whose faces, once radiant, are now discolored by rage and tears. Keśava (Kṛṣṇa) is addressed and asked to look upon these mourning groups, emphasizing the devastation that has followed Duryodhana’s fall.