Shloka 16
शल्यपर्वणि प्रथमाध्यायः — Karṇa-vadha-anantaraṃ Śalya-niyogaḥ, Saṃjayasya Dhṛtarāṣṭra-nivedanam
रुरोद च नरव्याप्र हा राजन्निति दुःखित: । अहो बत विनष्टा: सम निधनेन महात्मन:
ruroda ca naravyāghra hā rājann iti duḥkhitaḥ | aho bata vinaṣṭāḥ sma nidhanen mahātmanaḥ ||
அவன் துயரால் கலங்கி அழுதபடி—“ஹா நரவேங்கை! ஹா அரசே!” என்று கூவினான். பின்னர்—“அய்யோ! அந்த மகாத்மாவின் மரணத்தால் நாம் முற்றிலும் அழிந்தவர்களாய் ஆனோம்” என்று புலம்பினான்.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the death of a truly noble person is not merely a private loss but a collapse of moral and social support for those who depended on that person’s dharmic presence; grief here signals the perceived unraveling of order after righteous leadership falls.
Vaiśampāyana reports a scene of intense mourning: someone, overwhelmed with sorrow, weeps and addresses a king as ‘tiger among men,’ declaring that with the death of a great-souled figure they feel utterly ruined—setting the emotional tone for the war’s aftermath.