Shloka 8

स्त्री-विलापः — गान्धार्याः रणभूमिदर्शनं शापवचनं च

Battlefield Lament and Gāndhārī’s Curse

Devanagari script

आसामायतलनेत्राणां सुस्वराणां जनार्दन । मन:श्रुतिहरो नादो मनो मोहयतीव मे,श्रीकृष्ण! मधुर स्वरवाली इन विशाललोचना रानियोंका मन और कानोंको मोह लेनेवाला आर्तनाद मेरे मनको मूर्च्छित-सा किये देता है

Transliteration

āsām āyata-locanānāṃ su-svarāṇāṃ janārdana | manaḥ-śruti-haro nādo mano mohayatīva me ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「おお、ジャナールダナよ、これらの妃たち――大きな瞳と甘やかな声をもつ者たち――から立ちのぼる嘆きは、心も耳も奪い去る。まるで我が心そのものを惑わせるかのようだ。」

Word by Word

आसाम्of these (women)

आयत-नेत्राणाम्of the long-eyed (women)

सु-स्वराणाम्of the sweet-voiced (women)

जनार्दनO Janārdana

मनः-श्रुति-हरःstealing the mind and hearing

नादःsound; cry

मनःmind

मोहयतिbewilders; deludes

इवas if

मेmy; of me

श्रीकृष्णO Śrī Kṛṣṇa

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Janārdana (Śrī Kṛṣṇa)

the queens/royal women (rāṇīs)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical reality that war’s consequences are borne not only by warriors but by families and communities; the queens’ lament becomes a moral witness to suffering, urging compassion and sober reflection on violence and its aftermath.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Strī Parva’s mourning scenes after the great battle, the narrator describes the queens’ piercing cries. Addressing Kṛṣṇa as Janārdana, he says their wailing overwhelms the senses and leaves the listener’s mind stunned and bewildered.