Mahabharata 11.21.13 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 13
अध्याय २१ — गान्धार्या वैकर्तनदर्शनम्
Gāndhārī’s Viewing of Vaikartana/Karṇa
अल्पावशेषो<पि कृतो महात्मा शरीरभक्षै: परिभक्षयद्धिः । द्रष्ट न नः प्रीतिकर: शशीव कृष्णस्य पक्षस्य चतुर्दशाहे
Vaiśampāyana uvāca — alpāvaśeṣo ’pi kṛto mahātmā śarīrabhakṣaiḥ paribhakṣyamāṇaḥ | dṛṣṭo na naḥ prītikaraḥ śaśīva kṛṣṇapakṣasya caturdaśāhe ||
ໄວສັມປາຍະນະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ແມ່ນແຕ່ເຫຼືອພຽງເສດນ້ອຍໆຂອງຜູ້ມີຈິດໃຈຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່ນັ້ນ—ເພາະສັດທີ່ກິນຊາກສົບໄດ້ກັດກິນຊ້ຳໆ—ແຕ່ສິ່ງທີ່ພວກເຮົາເຫັນກໍບໍ່ນຳຄວາມຍິນດີມາໃຫ້. ເຫມືອນດວງຈັນໃນຄືນທີ 14 ຂອງຂ້າງແຮມ, ຮ່າງອັນຫຼຸດຫຼົງຂອງລາວເມື່ອເບິ່ງແລ້ວ ບໍ່ອາດໃຫ້ຄວາມຊື່ນບານແກ່ພວກເຮົາໄດ້».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and emotional devastation that follows war: even a ‘great-souled’ hero is reduced to a pitiable remnant, and the sight brings no satisfaction—only grief and revulsion—underscoring impermanence and the ethical cost of violence.
In the lament-filled context of the Strī Parva, the narrator describes the post-battle scene: the fallen hero’s body has been eaten by carrion creatures, leaving only a small remainder, and the onlookers find the sight as joyless as the waning moon on the dark fortnight’s fourteenth night.
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