Shloka 32
अभिमन्युविलापः (Abhimanyu-vilāpa) — Uttarā’s lament, observed and framed by Gandhārī
वितुद्यमानं विहगैरविराटमसितेक्षणा: । न शवनुवन्ति विहगान् निवारयितुमातुरा:
vitudyamānaṃ vihagair avirāṭam asitekṣaṇāḥ | na śaknuvanti vihagān nivārayitum āturāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The dark-eyed women, distressed and overwhelmed, were unable to ward off the birds that kept pecking at the body, which lay exposed and without any royal protection or splendor. The scene underscores the helplessness of the mourners and the indignity that war can inflict even after life has departed.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the vulnerability of human life and honor in the wake of war: even the dead may suffer indignity, and the living—though full of love and grief—can be powerless to protect. It implicitly critiques the cruelty and far-reaching consequences of violence.
In the lament-filled aftermath described in the Strī Parva, anguished women stand near the fallen and try to protect the body from scavenging birds, but in their distress they cannot successfully drive them away.