Shloka 20
Gāndhārī’s Petition for a Vision of the Departed (गान्धार्याः प्रार्थना—दिव्यदर्शनप्रसङ्गः)
तेषां तु पुरुषेन्द्राणां रुवतां रुदितस्वन:,वहाँ रोदन करते हुए उन पुरुषप्रवर पाण्डवोंके रोनेका शब्द महलके विस्तारसे अवरुद्ध हुए भूतल और आकाशकमें गूँजने लगा
teṣāṁ tu puruṣendrāṇāṁ ruvatāṁ ruditāsvaraḥ | mahālavistareṇāvaruddho bhūtale 'kāśe ca ghoṣam āgamat ||
だが、あの雄牛のごとき王たち――人の中の最勝者たち――があげた慟哭の響きは、宮殿の広大さに遮られて鈍くこもりながらも、なお地上にひろがり、天にまでこだました。この場面は、義務に縛られた生と取り返しのつかぬ喪失から生まれる悲嘆が、壁や王権の壮麗によっても閉じ込められず、ついには世に公となり、宇宙的な嘆きとなることを示している。
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability and universality of sorrow: even royal power and physical barriers cannot contain the consequences of loss. It implicitly points toward vairāgya (dispassion) and the ethical gravity of dharma-bound actions whose outcomes must be endured.
The foremost men—identified in context as the Pāṇḍavas—are crying aloud. Their lament, though muffled by the palace’s vast structure, still reverberates widely, echoing across earth and sky, emphasizing the intensity of their grief.