Shloka 35
Chapter 26: Śoka-pratiṣedha, Hata-saṅkhyā, Gati-vibhāga, Pretakārya-ājñā
Restraint of Grief, Count of the Slain, Destinies, and Funerary Directives
कौसल्यं द्रौपदेयांश्व शकुनिं चापि सौबलम् | अचल वृषकं चैव भगदत्तं च पार्थिवम्,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
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
kausalyaṃ draupadeyāṃś ca śakuniṃ cāpi saubalam |
acala-vṛṣakaṃ caiva bhagadattaṃ ca pārthivam |
Vaiśampāyana said: They performed the funeral rites—by fires kindled with streams of ghee—for Kausalya, the sons of Draupadī, Śakuni the son of Subala, Acala and Vṛṣaka, and King Bhagadatta, along with many other rulers in their thousands. The passage underscores the grim moral aftermath of war: even the mighty, once celebrated in life, are reduced to names in the rites of cremation, and the survivors are bound by dharma to honor the dead despite enmity.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dharmic duty of honoring the dead through proper rites, even after bitter conflict, and it stresses the ethical reckoning that follows violence: glory in war ends in shared mortality and grief.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, the survivors arrange cremations for numerous fallen warriors and princes—named here among many others—using fires fed with ghee, marking the transition from battlefield heroics to mourning and ritual obligation.