Shloka 5
स्त्रीपर्व — गान्धारीविलापः
Strī Parva — Gāndhārī’s Lament over the Fallen
युवा वृन्दारक: शूरो विकर्ण: पुरुषर्षभ । सुखोषित: सुखार्हश्च शेते पांसुषु माधव,पुरुषप्रवर माधव! विकर्ण नवयुवक, देवताके समान कान्तिमान्, शूरवीर, सुखमें पला हुआ तथा सुख भोगनेके ही योग्य था; परंतु आज धूलमें लोट रहा है
yuvā vṛndārakaḥ śūro vikarṇaḥ puruṣarṣabha | sukhoṣitaḥ sukhārhaś ca śete pāṃsuṣu mādhava ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O bull among men, Mādhava—Vikarṇa, a youthful prince, radiant like a god and renowned for valor, reared in comfort and fit only for enjoyment—now lies sprawled in the dust.” The line underscores the moral shock of war: even those born to refinement and rightful pleasures are reduced to the same earth, revealing the leveling, tragic cost of adharma-driven conflict.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and existential cost of war: status, youth, beauty, and a life of privilege collapse into the same dust. It evokes vairāgya (dispassion) and moral reflection on how violence annihilates what society deems most worthy of protection.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra slaughter, Vaiśampāyana describes the fallen—here Vikarṇa—emphasizing the contrast between his noble, comfort-filled upbringing and his present state, lying dead in the dust, intensifying the lamentation of the Strī-parvan context.