Shloka 23
Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni
Book 11, Chapter 24
गान्धारराज: शकुनिर्बलवान् सत्यविक्रम: । निहतः सहदेवेन भागिनेयेन मातुल:,यह गान्धारदेशका राजा महाबली सत्यपराक्रमी शकुनि पड़ा हुआ है। इसे सहदेवने मारा है। भानजेने मामाके प्राण लिये हैं
gāndhārarājaḥ śakunir balavān satyavikramaḥ | nihataḥ sahadevena bhāgineyena mātulaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Śakuni, the king of Gandhāra—mighty and famed for steadfast valor—has been slain. Sahadeva has killed his maternal uncle; the nephew has taken the life of the mother’s brother.” The line underscores the grim moral inversion produced by the war: even sacred kinship bonds (nephew and maternal uncle) are broken under the compulsions of vengeance and kṣatriya duty on the battlefield.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war corrodes ordinary moral boundaries: even relationships traditionally protected by affection and obligation—like nephew and maternal uncle—can be overridden by the demands of conflict, retribution, and perceived duty, leaving a residue of grief and ethical unease.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Śakuni, the king of Gandhāra, has been killed by Sahadeva. The statement stresses their family relation—Sahadeva as the nephew and Śakuni as the maternal uncle—intensifying the tragic weight of the killing.