Shloka 6
स्त्रीपर्व — गान्धारीविलापः
Strī Parva — Gāndhārī’s Lament over the Fallen
कर्णिनालीकनाराचैभिंन्नमर्माणमाहवे । अद्यापि न जहात्येन॑ लक्ष्मीर्भरतसत्तमम्,युद्धमें कर्णी, नालीक और नाराचोंके प्रहारसे इसके मर्मस्थल विदीर्ण हो गये हैं तो भी इस भरत-भूषण वीरको अभीतक लक्ष्मी (अंगकान्ति) छोड़ नहीं रही है
karṇinālīkanārācair bhinnamarmāṇam āhave | adyāpi na jahāty enaṁ lakṣmīr bharatasattamam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Though in battle his vital points have been pierced and torn apart by karṇin, nālīka, and nārāca arrows, even now Lakṣmī—his radiance and auspicious splendor—does not abandon this best of the Bharatas.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the paradox of human fragility and inner majesty: even when the body is grievously wounded, a person’s śrī—radiance, dignity, and the moral aura of heroism—may remain. It suggests that true greatness is not measured only by physical intactness but by the enduring presence of auspicious qualities amid suffering.
In the aftermath of the great war, the narrator describes a foremost warrior lying grievously injured—his vital points pierced by various kinds of arrows—yet still marked by an undiminished splendor (Lakṣmī as bodily radiance). The line underscores the tragic grandeur of the battlefield and the lingering majesty of the fallen.