Shloka 12
तं चित्रमाल्याभरणं युवत्य: शोककर्शिता: । क्रव्यादसंघै: सहिता रुदत्य: पर्युपासते,विचित्र माला और आभूषण धारण करनेवाले उस चित्रसेनको घेरकर शोकसे कातर हो रोती हुई युवतियाँ हिंसक जन्तुओंके साथ उसके पास बैठी हैं
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
taṃ citramālyābharaṇaṃ yuvatyāḥ śokakarśitāḥ |
kravyādasaṃghaiḥ sahitā rudatyaḥ paryupāsate ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The young women, wasted by grief, weeping, and accompanied by packs of flesh-eating creatures, sit all around that man adorned with splendid garlands and ornaments. The scene underscores the moral inversion wrought by war: beauty and adornment remain on the body, yet life, protection, and human order have collapsed, leaving mourners and scavengers to share the same space.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical cost of war: when dharma and protection fail, even the boundary between human mourning and animal scavenging collapses. External splendor (garlands, ornaments) cannot shield one from the consequences of violence and impermanence.
In the aftermath of the great slaughter, grief-stricken young women keep vigil around an adorned fallen man, crying, while packs of flesh-eating creatures also gather nearby—an image of desolation and the battlefield’s harsh reality.