Shloka 18
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
पश्यैता: पुण्डरीकाक्ष स्नुषा मे निहतेश्वरा: । प्रकीर्णकेशा: क्रोशन्ती: कुररीरिव माधव,“कमलनयन माधव! मेरी इन विधवा पुत्रवधुओंकी ओर देखो, जो केश बिखराये कुररीकी भाँति विलाप कर रही हैं
vaiśampāyana uvāca | paśyaitāḥ puṇḍarīkākṣa snuṣā me nihatēśvarāḥ | prakīrṇakeśāḥ krośantyaḥ kurarīr iva mādhava ||
पश्यैताः पुण्डरीकाक्ष स्नुषा मे निहतेश्वराः । प्रकीर्णकेशाः क्रोशन्त्यः कुररीरिव माधव ॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical reality that war’s consequences extend to innocent survivors—especially widows—whose suffering demands compassionate attention. It implicitly critiques triumphalism and urges dharmic sensitivity to the human cost of violence.
In the Strī Parva’s mourning scenes after the Kurukṣetra war, the speaker points out the widowed daughters-in-law, dishevelled and crying loudly, and addresses Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa) to witness their lament—likened to the plaintive cries of kurarī-birds.