Shloka 40
Chapter 26: Śoka-pratiṣedha, Hata-saṅkhyā, Gati-vibhāga, Pretakārya-ājñā
Restraint of Grief, Count of the Slain, Destinies, and Funerary Directives
साम्नामूचां च नादेन स्त्रीणां च रुदितस्वनै: । कश्मलं सर्वभूतानां निशायां समपद्यत,सामवेदीय मन्त्रों तथा ऋचाओंके घोष और स्त्रियोंके रोनेकी आवाजसे वहाँ रातमें सभी प्राणियोंको बड़ा कष्ट हुआ
sāmnām ūcāṃ ca nādena strīṇāṃ ca ruditaisvanaiḥ | kaśmalaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ niśāyāṃ samapadyata ||
Vaiśampāyana said: In the night, the combined sound of Sāman-chants and Vedic recitations, together with the wailing cries of the women, brought a heavy anguish upon all living beings. The scene conveys how ritual sound and human grief, when arising amid the aftermath of slaughter, do not soothe but instead deepen the shared suffering of the world.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral weight of war’s aftermath: even sacred sounds cannot erase the pain caused by mass violence. When grief is pervasive, it spreads beyond humans to ‘all beings,’ urging compassion and reflection on the consequences of adharma and destruction.
In the Stree Parva’s mourning scenes after the great battle, the night is filled with Vedic chanting/recitation and the loud weeping of women. This mixture of ritual sound and lamentation creates an atmosphere of intense distress that seems to afflict the entire living world.