Shloka 14
स्त्रीपर्व — गान्धारीविलापः
Strī Parva — Gāndhārī’s Lament over the Fallen
युवा वृन्दारको नित्यं प्रवरस्त्रीनिषेवित: । विविंशतिरसौ शेते ध्वस्त: पांसुषु माधव,माधव! देखो, वह देवतुल्य नवयुवक विविंशति, जिसकी सुन्दरी स्त्रियाँ सदा सेवा किया करती थीं, आज विध्वस्त होकर धूलमें पड़ा है
yuvā vṛndārako nityaṁ pravara-strī-niṣevitaḥ | viviṁśatir asau śete dhvastaḥ pāṁsuṣu mādhava ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Behold, O Mādhava: here lies Viviṁśati—once a godlike youth, ever attended by noble women—now shattered and cast down in the dust. Such is the ruin that war brings, reducing the honored and the cherished to the same earth.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the impermanence of worldly honor and pleasure: even one who was ‘godlike’ and constantly served is reduced to dust by the consequences of war. It implicitly warns against pride and highlights the ethical cost of violence.
In the Strī Parva’s lamentation scenes after the Kurukṣetra war, the speaker points out the fallen body of Viviṁśati to Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa), emphasizing the contrast between his former privileged life and his present ruin on the battlefield.