11.009
Core and Panchartara-Ext: King along with mourning women goes towards the battlefield.
janamejaya uvāca॥
Janamejaya said:
gate bhagavati vyāse dhṛtarāṣṭro mahīpatiḥ। kimaceṣṭata viprarṣe tanme vyākhyātumarhasi ॥11-9-1॥
O best of Brāhmaṇas, after the venerable Vyāsa had departed, what did King Dhṛtarāṣṭra do? Please explain that to me.
vaiśampāyana uvāca॥
Vaiśampāyana said:
etat-śrutvā nara-śreṣṭha ciraṃ dhyātvā tv acetanaḥ। sañjayaṃ yojayet ity uktvā viduraṃ pratyabhāṣata ॥11-9-2॥
O best of men, after hearing this and meditating for a long time, while you were unconscious, he said, "Sanjaya should be connected," and addressed Vidura.
kṣipram ānaya gāndhārīṃ sarvāś ca bharata-striyaḥ। vadhūṃ kuntīm upādāya yāś ca anyāḥ tatra yoṣitaḥ॥11-9-3॥
Quickly bring Gandhari and all the Bharata women. Bring the bride Kunti and the other women who are there.
evam uktvā sa dharmātmā viduraṃ dharmavittamam | śoka-viprahata-jñānaḥ yānam eva anvapadyata ||11-9-4||
Having thus spoken to Vidura, the most virtuous, the righteous-souled one, whose mind was overcome by grief, ascended his vehicle.
gāndhārī caiva śokārtā bharturvacanacoditā। saha kunt-yā yato rājā saha strībhirupādravat ॥11-9-5॥
Gandhari, deeply afflicted by grief and urged by her husband's words, together with Kunti and the other women, went where the king had gone.
tāḥ samāsādya rājānaṃ bhṛśaṃ śokasamanvitāḥ। āmantryānyonyamīyuḥ sma bhṛśam uccukruśus tataḥ॥11-9-6॥
Those women, deeply afflicted with grief, approached the king, spoke to each other, and then cried out loudly together.
tāḥ samāśvāsayat kṣattā tābhyaś cārtataraḥ svayam। aśrukaṇṭhīḥ samāropya tato'sau niryayau purāt ॥11-9-7॥
The charioteer, himself even more afflicted, consoled those women; after embracing them, their throats choked with tears, he then departed from the city.
tataḥ praṇādaḥ sañjajñe sarveṣu kuruveśmasu। ākumāraṃ puraṃ sarvam abhavac chokakarśitam ॥11-9-8॥
Then a loud wailing arose throughout all the houses of the Kurus. The whole city, from the princes downward, was overcome with grief.
adṛṣṭapūrvā yā nāryaḥ purā devagaṇair api। pṛthagjanena dṛśyanta tās tadā nihateśvarāḥ ॥11-9-9॥
Those women, who had never been seen before even by the hosts of gods, are now seen by ordinary people, after their lord has been slain.
prakīrya keśān suśubhān bhūṣaṇāni avamucya ca | eka-vastra-dharā nāryaḥ paripetuh anātha-vat ||11-9-10||
The women, having let their beautiful hair loose and removed their ornaments, dressed in a single garment, fell down as if they were helpless and unprotected.
śvetaparvatarūpebhyo gṛhebhyastāstvapākraman। guhābhya iva śailānāṃ pṛṣatyo hatayūthapāḥ ॥11-9-11॥
They left their homes, which looked like white mountains; just as female deer, whose leaders have been slain, flee from the caves of the mountains.
tānyudīrṇāni nārīṇāṃ tadā vṛndānyanekaśaḥ| śokārtānyadravanrājankiśorīṇāmivāṅgane ॥11-9-12॥
O king, at that time, those groups of women, deeply afflicted by grief, melted away in many ways, just like young girls in the courtyard.
pragṛhya bāhūn krośantyaḥ putrān bhrātṝn pitṝn api। darśayantīva tā ha sma yugānte lokasaṅkṣayam ॥11-9-13॥
Clutching their arms, they cried out for their sons, brothers, and fathers, as if displaying the destruction of the world at the end of an age.
vilapantyo rudantyaś ca dhāvamānās tataḥ tataḥ। śokenābhyāhata-jñānāḥ kartavyaṃ na prajajñire॥11-9-14॥
Lamenting and weeping, they ran here and there, their minds overwhelmed by grief, unable to understand what they should do.
vrīḍāṃ jagmuḥ purā yāḥ sma sakhīnām api yoṣitaḥ. tā ekavastrā nirlajjāḥ śvaśrūṇāṃ purato 'bhavan ॥11-9-15॥
The shame that once even the wives of friends had disappeared; those women, wearing only a single garment, became shameless before their mothers-in-law.
parasparaṃ susūkṣmeṣu śokeṣvāśvāsayansma yāḥ। tāḥ śokavihvalā rājannupaikṣanta parasparam ॥11-9-16॥
O king, those women, overwhelmed by grief, who had been consoling each other in their subtle sorrows, now neglected one another.
tābhiḥ parivṛto rājā rudatībhiḥ sahasraśaḥ। niryayau nagarāddīnastūrṇamāyodhanaṃ prati ॥11-9-17॥
Surrounded by thousands of weeping women, the distressed king quickly left the city for the battlefield.
śilpino vaṇijo vaiśyāḥ sarvakarmopajīvinaḥ। te pārthivaṃ puraskṛtya niryayur nagarād bahiḥ ॥11-9-18॥
The artisans, merchants, Vaiśyas, and all those who lived by various occupations, led by the king, left the city and went outside.
tāsāṃ vikrośamānānām ārtānāṃ kuru-saṅkṣaye। prādurāsīn mahāñ śabdo vyathayan bhuvanāni uta ॥11-9-19॥
As those distressed women cried out during the destruction of the Kurus, a great sound arose, shaking the worlds.
yugāntakāle samprāpte bhūtānāṃ dahyatām iva। abhāvaḥ syād ayaṃ prāpta iti bhūtāni menire ॥11-9-20॥
At the end of the age, when destruction arrived and it seemed as if all beings were being consumed, the beings thought: 'Now non-existence has come.'
bhṛśam-udvigna-manasas-te paurāḥ kuru-saṅkṣaye। prākrośanta mahārāja sv-anuraktās-tadā bhṛśam ॥11-9-21॥
O great king, at the destruction of the Kurus, those citizens, greatly disturbed in mind and deeply attached, cried out loudly.
