Shloka 4
Chapter 6: Dāruka’s Report; Arjuna Witnesses Dvārakā’s Desolation (दारुकवृत्तान्तः—अर्जुनस्य द्वारकादर्शनम्)
समालिडूग्यार्जुनं वृद्ध: स भुजाभ्यां महाभुज: । रुदन् पुत्रान् स्मरन् सर्वान् विललाप सुविह्धलः
samāliḍūgyārjunaṃ vṛddhaḥ sa bhujābhyāṃ mahābhujaḥ | rudan putrān smaran sarvān विललाप suvihdhalah
वैशम्पायन उवाच—वृद्धः स महाबाहुः समालिङ्ग्यार्जुनं भुजाभ्यां रुरोद। स सर्वान् पुत्रान् स्मरन् शोकसन्तप्तः सुविह्वलः विललाप॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the human cost of conflict and the inevitability of sorrow after violence: even the mighty are brought low by bereavement. It implicitly points to the fragility of worldly ties and the need for steadiness in dharma amid irreversible loss.
An elderly, powerful figure embraces Arjuna tightly. Overcome with emotion, he weeps while remembering all his sons and breaks into lamentation, showing the depth of devastation in the Mausala Parva’s aftermath.