Shloka 22
Adhyāya 17 — Gandhārī’s Vilāpa at Duryodhana’s Body (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १७)
अपश्यं कृष्ण पृथिवीं धार्तराष्ट्रानुशासिताम् । पूर्णा हस्तिगवाश्वैश्व वाष्णेय न तु तच्चिरम्,वृष्णिनन्दन श्रीकृष्ण! मैंने दुर्योधनद्वारा शासित हुई इस पृथ्वीको हाथी, घोड़े और गौओंसे भरी-पूरी देखा था; किंतु वह राज्य चिरस्थायी न रह सका
vaiśampāyana uvāca | apaśyaṁ kṛṣṇa pṛthivīṁ dhārtarāṣṭrānuśāsitām | pūrṇāṁ hastigavāśvaiś ca vāṣṇeya na tu tac ciram ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Kṛṣṇa, O scion of the Vṛṣṇis, I once saw this earth ruled under the command of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son—abounding in elephants, cattle, and horses. Yet that sovereignty did not endure for long.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Material prosperity and political dominance—symbolized by abundance of elephants, cattle, and horses—are unstable when grounded in adharma. Even a seemingly flourishing kingdom, if ruled through wrongful ambition and injustice, quickly collapses under the weight of its own moral failure.
In the grief-filled context of the Strī Parva, Vaiśampāyana addresses Kṛṣṇa and recalls how the earth once appeared prosperous under Duryodhana’s rule. He then underscores the sudden reversal: that power and prosperity proved short-lived, pointing to the catastrophic outcome of the Kuru conflict.