Shloka 18
Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni
Book 11, Chapter 24
अयं स हन्ता शूराणां मित्राणामभयप्रद: । प्रदाता गोसहस्राणां क्षत्रियान्तकर: कर:,वह कहती है--'हाय! यह वही हाथ है, जिसने युद्धमें अनेक शूरवीरोंका वध, मित्रोंको अभयदान, सहस्रों गोदान तथा क्षत्रियोंका संहार किया है
ayaṃ sa hantā śūrāṇāṃ mitrāṇām abhayapradaḥ | pradātā gosahasrāṇāṃ kṣatriyāntakaraḥ karaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Alas—this is that very hand: the slayer of many heroes in battle, the giver of fearlessness to friends, the donor of thousands of cows, and the hand that brought about the destruction of kṣatriya warriors.” The line underscores the moral shock of war: the same hand capable of protection and generosity is also the instrument of mass killing, intensifying the lament of the bereaved.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension of kṣatriya life: the same agency (the ‘hand’) can be righteous in protection and charity, yet also become the means of devastating violence. In the context of post-war lament, it questions the cost of victory and the moral weight carried by those who fought.
In Strī Parva’s mourning scenes after the Kurukṣetra war, the bereaved identify and lament the body (or the fallen) by recalling his deeds. The speaker points to ‘this very hand’ and lists its famed actions—killing heroes, protecting friends, giving great gifts, and destroying kṣatriyas—intensifying grief through the contrast between generosity and slaughter.