Shloka 16
Strī-parva Adhyāya 22 — Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Lament for the Fallen (Āvantya, Bāhlika, Jayadratha, and Duḥśalā)
हा हा धिग् दुःशलां पश्य वीतशोकभयामिव । शिरो भर्तुरनासाद्य धावमानामितस्तत:,हाय! हाय, धिक्कार है! देखो, देखो दःशला शोक और भयसे रहित-सी होकर अपने पतिका मस्तक न पानेके कारण इधर-उधर दौड़ रही है
hā hā dhig duḥśalāṃ paśya vītaśokabhayām iva | śiro bhartur anāsādya dhāvamānām itas tataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Alas, alas—shame! Look at Duḥśalā: she appears as though emptied of grief and fear. Unable to find her husband’s severed head, she runs about here and there.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the human cost of war: beyond victory and defeat, violence leaves families shattered. Duḥśalā’s frantic search suggests shock and numbness, reminding the listener that adharma in war culminates in irreversible grief and moral horror.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra slaughter, Duḥśalā is shown running in all directions, unable to locate her husband’s head. The narrator’s cries (“hā hā”, “dhik”) frame the scene as both lamentable and condemnable, intensifying the atmosphere of mourning in the Strī Parva.