Shloka 39
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
वायुदेव उवाच हतस्त्वमसि गान्धारे सभ्रातृसुतबान्धव:
vāyudeva uvāca: hatas tvam asi gāndhāre sabhrātṛ-suta-bāndhavaḥ
വായുദേവൻ പറഞ്ഞു—“ഹേ ഗാന്ധാരാധിപതേ, നീ സഹോദരന്മാരും പുത്രന്മാരും ബന്ധുക്കളും സഹിതം ഹതനായിരിക്കുന്നു.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical consequence of adharma in war: wrongdoing and blind attachment can culminate in the annihilation of one’s entire familial network—brothers, sons, and relatives—showing that moral failure often brings collective ruin, not merely personal loss.
Vāyudeva addresses ‘Gāndhāra’ (i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra, identified through Gāndhārī) and declares him ‘slain’ along with his brothers, sons, and kinsmen—an emphatic pronouncement of the Kuru family’s devastation in the aftermath of the great war.