Mahabharata 11.23.36 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 23, Shloka 36

Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)

Devanagari script

बाणैभिन्नतनुत्राणं धृष्टद्युम्नेन केशव । उपास्ते वै मृथे द्रोणं जटिला ब्रह्मबचारिणी

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca |

Bāṇair bhinna-tanutrāṇaṃ dhṛṣṭadyumnena Keśava |

Upāste vai mṛthe Droṇaṃ jaṭilā brahmacāriṇī ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「おおケーシャヴァよ。戦場にて、梵行を守り、結髪を垂らす苦行の女クリピーが、ドリシュタデュムナの矢により鎧を裂かれ砕かれたドローナの傍らに座している。」

Word by Word

• बाणैः: with arrows
• बाणैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाण
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• भिन्न: split, pierced
• भिन्न: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भिद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• तनुत्राणम्: armor, body-protection
• तनुत्राणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तनुत्राण
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• धृष्टद्युम्नेन: by Dhrishtadyumna
• धृष्टद्युम्नेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धृष्टद्युम्न
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• केशव: O Keshava
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• उपास्ते: sits near, attends upon
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप-आस्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Atmanepada

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• मृधे: in battle
• मृधे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृध
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• द्रोणम्: Drona
• द्रोणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रोण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• जटिला: matted-haired
• जटिला: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जटिल
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• ब्रह्मचारिणी: female ascetic / celibate practitioner
• ब्रह्मचारिणी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मचारिणी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)
• Dhṛṣṭadyumna
• Droṇa
• Kṛpī
• bāṇa (arrows)
• tanutrāṇa (armour/cuirass)
• mṛdha/mṛtha (battlefield)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical and emotional aftermath of warfare: victory and vengeance culminate in intimate scenes of loss, where dharma is tested not only in combat but in how one confronts suffering, mortality, and compassion for the fallen.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Droṇa has been brought down in battle—his armour shattered by Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s arrows—his wife Kṛpī, described as an ascetic (jaṭilā, brahmacāriṇī), sits near him on the battlefield in a vigil of grief.