Shloka 10
Gāndhārī’s Lament and the Identification of Duḥśāsana (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १८)
अन्यां चापह्तं कायाच्चारुकुण्डलमुन्नसम् | स्वस्थ बन्धो: शिर: कृष्ण गृहीत्वा पश्य तिष्ठतीम्,श्रीकृष्ण! देखो, वह दूसरी स्त्री किसी आत्मीय जनके मनोहर कुण्डलोंसे सुशोभित और ऊँची नासिकावाले कटे हुए मस्तकको लेकर खड़ी है
anyāṁ cāpahṛtaṁ kāyāc cārukuṇḍalam unnasaṁ | sva-stha-bandhoḥ śiraḥ kṛṣṇa gṛhītvā paśya tiṣṭhatīm ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「そして見よ、クリシュナよ。さらに別の女がそこに立ち、胴から断たれた首を抱えている——美しい耳飾りに飾られ、鼻筋は高く整い、それは彼女自身の近しい血縁の者の首である。この光景は戦のもたらす道義の破滅をあらわにする。家族の絆さえ嘆きのしるしへと貶められ、戦場の暴力は生き残った者の喪の涙の中にまで追いすがるのだ。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical cost of war: victory cannot erase the suffering inflicted on families. By showing a woman holding the severed head of her own kin, the narrative confronts the listener with the dehumanizing consequences of violence and implicitly calls for compassion, restraint, and sober reflection on dharma in conflict.
In the Strī-parvan’s lamentation scenes after the Kurukṣetra war, Vaiśampāyana points out to Kṛṣṇa another grieving woman. She stands holding a head cut from a body—recognizable by its ornaments and features—belonging to someone close to her, illustrating the immediacy and horror of the battlefield’s aftermath.