Shloka 17
Strī-parva Adhyāya 22 — Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Lament for the Fallen (Āvantya, Bāhlika, Jayadratha, and Duḥśalā)
वारयामास य: सर्वान् पाण्डवान् पुत्रगृद्धिन: । स हत्वा विपुला: सेना: स्वयं मृत्युवशं गत:,जिस वीरने अपने पुत्रको बचानेकी इच्छावाले समस्त पाण्डवोंको अकेले रोक दिया था, वही कितनी ही सेनाओंका संहार करके स्वयं मृत्युके अधीन हो गया
vārayāmāsa yaḥ sarvān pāṇḍavān putragṛddhinaḥ | sa hatvā vipulāḥ senāḥ svayaṁ mṛtyuvaśaṁ gataḥ ||
He who, driven by the urge to protect his son, single-handedly held back all the Pāṇḍavas—after cutting down vast forces—at last himself fell under the dominion of Death. The verse underscores the tragic cost of war: even valor born of parental attachment culminates in mortality, and heroic resistance cannot ultimately escape the law of impermanence.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the highest martial valor, motivated by powerful human attachment (here, the urge to protect one’s son), remains bound by mortality; war magnifies both devotion and destruction, but no hero ultimately escapes Death.
Vaiśampāyana describes a warrior who alone checked the advance of all the Pāṇḍavas because they were intent on reaching his son; after slaughtering many troops, that warrior himself is finally slain—succumbing to death.