Shloka 4
Gandhārī’s Lament for Bhūriśravas and Śakuni
Book 11, Chapter 24
दिष्ट्या नैनं महाराज दारुणं भरतक्षयम् । कुरुसंक्रन्दनं घोर युगान्तमनुपश्यसि,“महाराज! सौभाग्यसे आपको यह भरतवंशियोंका दारुण विनाश, घोर प्रलयके समान कुरुकुलका महासंहार देखनेका अवसर नहीं मिला है
diṣṭyā nainaṃ mahārāja dāruṇaṃ bharatakṣayam | kurusaṃkrandanaṃ ghoraṃ yugāntam anupaśyasi ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “By good fortune, O great king, you did not have to witness this dreadful destruction of the Bharatas—this terrible, war-cry-filled slaughter of the Kurus, like the end of an age. It is a grim mercy that such a sight did not fall upon your eyes.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the aftermath of war as so morally and emotionally catastrophic that not witnessing it is itself a kind of grace; it underscores impermanence and the ethical horror of mass violence.
Vaiśampāyana addresses a king and remarks that, fortunately, he did not have to see the dreadful annihilation of the Bharatas and the terrifying, yugānta-like slaughter and tumult among the Kurus.