Shloka 34
Chapter 26: Śoka-pratiṣedha, Hata-saṅkhyā, Gati-vibhāga, Pretakārya-ājñā
Restraint of Grief, Count of the Slain, Destinies, and Funerary Directives
शिखण्डिनं च पाज्चाल्यं धृष्टय्युम्नं च पार्षतम् । युधामन्युं च विक्रान्तमुत्तमौजसमेव च,राजा दुर्योधन, उनके निन्यानबे महारथी भाई, राजा शल्य, शल, भूरिश्रवा, राजा जयद्रथ, अभिमन्यु, दुःशासन-पुत्र लक्ष्मण, राजा धृष्टकेतु, बृहन्त, सोमदत्त, सौसे भी अधिक सूंजयवीर, राजा क्षेमधन्वा, विराट द्रपद, शिखण्डी, पांचालदेशीय द्रुपदपुत्र धृष्टद्युम्न, युधामन्यु, पराक्रमी उत्तमौजा, कोसलराज बृहद्वल, द्रौपदीके पाँचों पुत्र, सुबलपुत्र शकुनि, अचल, वृषक, राजा भगदत्त, पुत्रोंसहित अमर्षशील वैकर्तन कर्ण, महाधनुर्धर पाँचों केकयराजकुमार, महारथी त्रिगर्त, राक्षसराज घटोत्कच, बकके भाई राक्षसप्रवर अलम्बुष और राजा जलसंध--इनका तथा अन्य बहुतेरे सहस्रों भूपालोंका घीकी धारासे प्रज्वलित हुई अग्नियोंद्वारा उन लोगोंने दाह-कर्म कराया
śikhaṇḍinaṃ ca pāñcālyaṃ dhṛṣṭadyumnaṃ ca pārṣatam | yudhāmanyuṃ ca vikrāntam uttamaujasaṃ eva ca ||
Vaiśampāyana said: They also performed the funerary rites—by fires kindled with streams of ghee—for Śikhaṇḍin, the Pāñcāla prince Dhṛṣṭadyumna (son of Pṛṣata), the valiant Yudhāmanyu, and Uttamaujā. In the wider account of this passage, the narrator lists many renowned kings and heroes from both sides who, after the catastrophic war, are consigned to the last rites—an act that restores a measure of dharmic order amid grief, acknowledging the shared mortality of friend and foe and the ethical necessity of honoring the dead.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in the wake of total war, dharma requires honoring the dead through proper rites. The passage underscores ethical responsibility amid sorrow: death levels victors and vanquished, and the living must restore order through prescribed duties rather than vengeance or neglect.
In Strī Parva’s lamentation-and-aftermath setting, the narrator enumerates fallen heroes. This verse names Śikhaṇḍin, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Yudhāmanyu, and Uttamaujā among those for whom cremation and last rites are performed, situating their deaths within the collective mourning after the Kurukṣetra war.