Shloka 5
Gāndhārī’s Lament and the Identification of Duḥśāsana (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १८)
एषान्या त्वनवद्याज़ी करसम्मितमध्यमा । घोरमायोधन दृष्टवा निपतत्यतिदु:खिता,यह पतली कमरवाली सर्वागसुन्दरी दूसरी वधू युद्धस्थलका भयानक दृश्य देखकर अत्यन्त दुःखी हो पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़ती है
eṣānyā tv anavadyāśī karasammita-madhyamā | ghoraṃ māyodhanaṃ dṛṣṭvā nipataty atiduḥkhitā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Another bride—faultless in conduct, with a waist as slender as a hand’s span—on seeing the dreadful scene of battle, collapses to the ground, overwhelmed by unbearable grief. The verse underscores how the spectacle of war shatters even the innocent and blameless, turning beauty and auspiciousness into sudden mourning.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical cost of war: even those who are blameless and uninvolved in wrongdoing are devastated by its consequences. It implicitly critiques violence by showing how conflict spreads suffering beyond the combatants.
In the Strī Parva context of post-war lamentation, Vaiśampāyana describes a woman (a bride) who, upon witnessing the horrific battlefield scene, is overcome with grief and collapses to the ground.