Shloka 17

आयोधनदर्शनम्

Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra

Devanagari script

ततः सा पुण्डरीकाक्षमामन्त्र्य पुरुषोत्तमम्‌ । कुरूणां वैशसं दृष्टवा इदं वचनमब्रवीत्‌,दुःखसे व्याकुलचित्त हुई युवतियोंके करुण-क्रन्दनसे वह अत्यन्त भयंकर युद्धस्थल सब ओरसे गूँज उठा। यह देखकर धर्मको जाननेवाली सुबलपुत्री गान्धारीने कमलनयन श्रीकृष्णको सम्बोधित करके कौरवोंके उस विनाशपर दृष्टिपात करते हुए कहा -

Transliteration

tataḥ sā puṇḍarīkākṣam āmantrya puruṣottamam | kurūṇāṁ vaiśasaṁ dṛṣṭvā idaṁ vacanam abravīt ||

Translation

Kemudian Gandhārī, puteri Subala, menyapa Kṛṣṇa yang bermata laksana teratai, Sang Purushottama. Melihat pembantaian dahsyat kaum Kuru, beliau mengucapkan kata-kata ini.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tataḥ', 'definition': 'then

• thereafter'}, {'term': 'sā', 'definition': 'she (Gāndhārī)'}, {'term': 'puṇḍarīkākṣa', 'definition': 'lotus-eyed (epithet of Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu)'}, {'term': 'āmantrya', 'definition': 'having addressed

• having called upon (absolutive of ā-mantr)'}, {'term': 'puruṣottama', 'definition': 'the सर्वोत्तम पुरुष

• Supreme Person (epithet of Kṛṣṇa)'}, {'term': 'kurūṇām', 'definition': 'of the Kurus (genitive plural)'}, {'term': 'vaiśasam', 'definition': 'slaughter

• dreadful destruction'}, {'term': 'dṛṣṭvā', 'definition': 'having seen'}, {'term': 'idam vacanam', 'definition': 'this statement

• these words'}, {'term': 'abravīt', 'definition': 'she said

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Gāndhārī
• Kṛṣṇa
• Puruṣottama
• Puṇḍarīkākṣa
• Kurus (Kauravas/Kuru lineage)
• battlefield (raṇabhūmi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the post-war moment as a moral reckoning: even when conflict is justified by claims of dharma, its human cost—slaughter and the grief of families—demands ethical reflection. Gāndhārī, portrayed as dharma-jñā (one who knows dharma), turns to Kṛṣṇa as a moral and cosmic witness to the consequences of violence and the collapse of a lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the great battle, the battlefield is filled with the cries of bereaved women. Gāndhārī, seeing the horrific destruction of the Kurus, approaches and addresses Kṛṣṇa (called Puṇḍarīkākṣa and Puruṣottama) and begins to speak—setting up her forthcoming words of grief, reproach, and reflection on the catastrophe.