Shloka 20

आयोधनदर्शनम्

Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra

Devanagari script

वीरसूभिम्महाराज हतपुत्राभिरावृतम्‌ । क्वचिच्च वीरपत्नीभि्हतवीराभिरावृतम्‌,“महाराज! कहीं तो जिनके पुत्र मारे गये हैं उन वीरप्रसविनी माताओंसे और कहीं जिनके पति वीरगतिको प्राप्त हो गये हैं, उन वीरपत्नियोंसे यह युद्धस्थल घिर गया है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca |

Vīrasūbhir mahārāja hataputrābhir āvṛtam |

Kvacic ca vīrapatnībhiḥ hatavīrābhir āvṛtam ||

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说道：“大王啊，战场被重重围满——此处是失子之英母，彼处是失夫之勇妇：她们的儿子被杀，她们的丈夫以战士之死而殒。”

Word by Word

वीरheroic

सूभिःby mothers (women who have borne sons)

महाराजO great king

हतslain

पुत्राभिःby (those whose) sons

आवृतम्is surrounded/covered

क्वचित्somewhere

चand

वीरof heroes/heroic

पत्नीभिःby wives

हतslain

वीराभिःby heroes (whose heroes are slain)

आवृतम्is surrounded/covered

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mahārāja (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya by context)

battlefield (yuddhasthala/raṇabhūmi, implied)

bereaved mothers (vīrasū, hataputrāḥ)

bereaved wives (vīrapatnī, hatavīrāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical reality of war: beyond victory and defeat, the true measure of violence is seen in the suffering of innocents—mothers and wives who bear the irreversible loss. It implicitly warns that adharma and unchecked conflict culminate in collective grief.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Strī Parva’s post-war setting, Vaiśampāyana describes the battlefield as filled with bereaved women—some mothers whose sons have been killed and some wives whose husbands have fallen—conveying the mournful atmosphere after the Kurukṣetra slaughter.