Shloka 3
Adhyāya 17 — Gandhārī’s Vilāpa at Duryodhana’s Body (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १७)
परिष्वज्य च गान्धारी कृपणं पर्यदेवयत् । हा हा पुत्रेति शोकार्ता विललापाकुलेन्द्रिया,पुनः होशमें आनेपर अपने पुत्रको पुकार-पुकारकर वे विलाप करने लगीं। दुर्योधनको खूनसे लथपथ होकर सोया देख उसे हृदयसे लगाकर गान्धारी दीन होकर रोने लगीं। उनकी सारी इन्द्रियाँ व्याकुल हो उठी थीं। वे शोकसे आतुर हो 'हा पुत्र! हा पुत्र!! कहकर विलाप करने लगीं
pariṣvajya ca gāndhārī kṛpaṇaṁ paryadevayat | hā hā putreti śokārtā vilalāpākulendriyā ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Embracing him, Gāndhārī lamented piteously. Overwhelmed by grief, her senses thrown into turmoil, she wailed again and again, crying, “Alas, my son! Alas, my son!” The scene lays bare the human cost of adharma-driven war: even the mother of the aggressor is left with nothing but sorrow, and victory yields no moral consolation.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitable suffering that follows a war rooted in adharma: power and pride culminate in irreversible loss, and even those who once upheld their side’s cause are reduced to helpless grief. It highlights the ethical truth that violence rebounds as sorrow, leaving no true ‘winner’ in moral terms.
After the great slaughter, Gāndhārī embraces her fallen son and breaks down in intense lamentation. Her repeated cry—“Alas, my son!”—portrays a mother’s raw anguish amid the battlefield’s aftermath.