Shloka 44
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
यस्यास्तु श्वशुरो धीमान् बाह्विक: स कुरूद्गवह: । निहतः सोमदत्तश्न पित्रा सह महारणे
yasyāstu śvaśuro dhīmān bāhvikaḥ sa kurūdgavaḥ | nihataḥ somadattaś ca pitrā saha mahāraṇe ||
Disse Vaiśampāyana: “Seu sábio sogro, Bāhlika—o mais eminente entre os Kurus—foi morto. E Somadatta também, juntamente com seu pai, encontrou a morte naquela grande batalha.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the sweeping, lineage-wide cost of war: even revered elders and protectors fall, intensifying the moral weight of violence and the inevitability of loss that follows conflict.
Vaiśampāyana recounts the deaths of Kuru elders—Bāhlika and Somadatta (with his father)—as part of the great war, explaining the depth of bereavement surrounding the surviving family members.