Shloka 23
Adhyāya 17 — Gandhārī’s Vilāpa at Duryodhana’s Body (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १७)
तामेवाद्य महाबाहो पश्याम्यन्यानुशासिताम् | हीनां हस्तिगवाश्वेन कि नु जीवामि माधव,“महाबाहु माधव! आज उसी पृथ्वीको मैं देखती हूँ कि वह दूसरेके शासनमें जाकर हाथी, घोड़े और गाय-बैलोंसे हीन हो गयी है; फिर मैं किसलिये जीवन धारण करूँ?
tām evādya mahābāho paśyāmy anyānuśāsitām | hīnāṃ hastigavāśvena ki nu jīvāmi mādhava |
ഹേ മഹാബാഹു മാധവാ! ഇന്ന് അതേ ഭൂമിയെ ഞാൻ മറ്റൊരാളുടെ അധീനതയിൽ കാണുന്നു—ആന, പശു, കുതിര എന്നിവ ഇല്ലാതെ ശൂന്യമായതായി; പിന്നെ ഞാൻ എന്തിനാണ് ജീവിക്കേണ്ടത്?
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war and unjust upheaval devastate the very foundations of a kingdom—its people, livestock, and stability—so that political ‘victory’ can feel like moral and material ruin. It frames prosperity (symbolized by elephants, horses, and cattle) as tied to righteous governance, and shows grief questioning the value of life amid collapsed order.
In the Strī Parva’s lamentation setting after the Kurukṣetra war, a grieving voice addresses Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava), saying she sees the same Earth now under another’s rule and emptied of the traditional signs of royal wealth and strength—elephants, horses, and cattle—therefore asking why she should go on living.