Shloka 7
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
एता: सुसूक्ष्मवसना मद्रराजं॑ नरर्षभम् | क्रोशन्त्यो5थ समासाद्य क्षत्रिया: क्षत्रियर्षभम्,अत्यन्त महीन वस्त्र पहने हुए ये क्षत्राणियाँ क्षत्रिय-शिरोमणि नरश्रेष्ठ मद्रराजके पास आकर कैसा करुण क्रन्दन कर रही हैं
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
etāḥ susūkṣmavasanā madrarājaṃ nararṣabham |
krośantyo 'tha samāsādya kṣatriyāḥ kṣatriyarṣabham ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Then those Kṣatriya women, clad in exceedingly fine garments, came up to the Madra king—the best of men—and, reaching that foremost of Kṣatriyas, began to cry out in piercing lamentation. The scene underscores the human cost of war: royal status and refined attire cannot shield one from grief, and the duty of rulers is tested amid the suffering of their own people.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that the devastation of war reaches even the highest households; refinement and rank do not prevent suffering. It implicitly calls rulers and warriors to reckon with the ethical weight of violence and to respond to grief with responsibility and compassion.
In the aftermath of the great battle, Kṣatriya women—described as delicately dressed—approach the king of Madra and wail loudly. The narration frames a public scene of mourning directed toward a leading royal figure.