Shloka 8
स्त्री-विलापः — गान्धार्याः रणभूमिदर्शनं शापवचनं च
Battlefield Lament and Gāndhārī’s Curse
आसामायतलनेत्राणां सुस्वराणां जनार्दन । मन:श्रुतिहरो नादो मनो मोहयतीव मे,श्रीकृष्ण! मधुर स्वरवाली इन विशाललोचना रानियोंका मन और कानोंको मोह लेनेवाला आर्तनाद मेरे मनको मूर्च्छित-सा किये देता है
āsām āyata-locanānāṃ su-svarāṇāṃ janārdana | manaḥ-śruti-haro nādo mano mohayatīva me ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Janārdana, the lamentation rising from these queens—wide-eyed and sweet-voiced—steals away both mind and hearing; it seems to bewilder my very mind.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical reality that war’s consequences are borne not only by warriors but by families and communities; the queens’ lament becomes a moral witness to suffering, urging compassion and sober reflection on violence and its aftermath.
In the Strī Parva’s mourning scenes after the great battle, the narrator describes the queens’ piercing cries. Addressing Kṛṣṇa as Janārdana, he says their wailing overwhelms the senses and leaves the listener’s mind stunned and bewildered.