Shloka 31
अभिमन्युविलापः (Abhimanyu-vilāpa) — Uttarā’s lament, observed and framed by Gandhārī
द्रोणास्त्रशरसंकृत्तं शयानं रुधिरोक्षितम् | विराटं वितुदन्त्येते गृध्रगोमायुवायसा:,द्रोणाचार्यके बाणोंसे छिन्न-भिन्न हो खूनसे लथपथ होकर रणभूमिमें पड़े हुए राजा विराटको ये गीध, गीदड़ और कौए नोच रहे हैं
dṛoṇāstraśarasaṃkṛttaṃ śayānaṃ rudhirokṣitam | virāṭaṃ vitudanty ete gṛdhragomāyuvāyasāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Torn and mangled by the arrows of Droṇa’s weapon, lying on the battlefield and drenched in blood, King Virāṭa is being pecked and torn at by these vultures, jackals, and crows. The scene underscores the grim moral cost of war: even the noble and the brave, once fallen, are reduced to helplessness, and the battlefield becomes a place where dignity is stripped away by violence and its aftermath.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dehumanizing aftermath of war: status and valor cannot protect one from the indignities that follow death. It serves as an ethical reminder of war’s irreversible cost and the urgency of dharmic restraint.
Vaiśampāyana describes King Virāṭa lying dead on the battlefield, his body mangled by Droṇa’s arrows and smeared with blood, while scavenging birds and animals—vultures, jackals, and crows—tear at him.