Shloka 231
अभिमन्युविलापः (Abhimanyu-vilāpa) — Uttarā’s lament, observed and framed by Gandhārī
“वीर! आप पाण्डवों और पांचालोंके देखते-देखते सनाथ होते हुए भी अनाथकी भाँति कैसे मारे गये? ।। दृष्टवा बहुभिराक्रन्दे निहतं त्वां पिता तव । वीर: पुरुषशार्दटूल: कथं जीवति पाण्डव:
vīra! āp pāṇḍavoṃ aura pāñcāloṃ ke dekhate-dekhate sanātha hote hue bhī anātha-kī bhānti kaise māre gaye? dṛṣṭvā bahubhir ākrande nihataṃ tvāṃ pitā tava | vīraḥ puruṣaśārdūlaḥ kathaṃ jīvati pāṇḍavaḥ ||
वीर! पाण्डवानां पाञ्चालानां च पश्यतां सनाथोऽपि कथमनाथ इव हतः? बहुभिराक्रन्दे त्वां निहतं दृष्ट्वा तव पिता कथं जीवेत्? स वीरः पुरुषशार्दूलः पाण्डवः कथं प्राणान् धारयेत्?
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse intensifies the moral shock of war: even the protected can be cut down, and the community’s cries cannot undo death. It highlights the fragility of human security and the ethical weight of violence—how a single killing radiates suffering through families (the father’s unbearable grief) and allies.
In the Strī-parvan’s mourning atmosphere, the speaker voices a lament addressed to a fallen hero, questioning how he could be slain in full view of his allies (the Pāṇḍavas and Pāñcālas). The lament then turns to the survivor’s agony: how can the slain man’s father—and the renowned Pāṇḍava hero—continue living after witnessing such a death amid widespread wailing.