Shloka 34
स्त्री-विलापः — गान्धार्याः रणभूमिदर्शनं शापवचनं च
Battlefield Lament and Gāndhārī’s Curse
माधव! निश्चय ही दैवके लिये कोई भी कार्य अधिक कठिन नहीं है; क्योंकि उसने क्षत्रियोंद्वारा ही इन शूरवीर क्षत्रियशिरोमणियोंका संहार कर डाला है ।। तदैव निहता: कृष्ण मम पुत्रास्तरस्विन: । यदैवाकृतकामस्त्वमुपप्लव्यं गत: पुन:,श्रीकृष्ण! मेरे वेगशाली पुत्र तो उसी दिन मार डाले गये, जब कि तुम अपूर्णमनोरथ होकर पुन: उपप्लव्यको लौट गये थे
tadaiva nihatāḥ kṛṣṇa mama putrās tarasvinaḥ | yadaivākṛtakāmas tvaṃ upaplavyaṃ gataḥ punaḥ ||
Disse Vaiśampāyana: “Ó Kṛṣṇa, meus filhos, céleres e valentes, foram mortos naquele mesmo dia—justamente quando tu, com teu intento não cumprido, retornaste outra vez a Upaplavya. O curso dos acontecimentos mostra quão inexorável é o destino: ele conduz à destruição até dos guerreiros mais eminentes, pela própria mão dos kṣatriya.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inexorability of daiva (destiny) in the aftermath of war: even the strongest are swept away, and human plans—even Kṛṣṇa’s diplomatic efforts—may remain unfulfilled when the larger moral and cosmic momentum has turned toward destruction.
In the lament-filled context of the Strī Parva, the narrator reports a grief-stricken recollection addressed to Kṛṣṇa: the speaker’s sons were killed on the very day Kṛṣṇa returned to Upaplavya without achieving his intended aim—an allusion to the failure of peace efforts and the immediate slide into catastrophic slaughter.