Arjuna Comes to Desolate Dvaraka

Verse 1 (16.6.1)

दारुकोपि कुरून्गत्वा दृष्ट्वा पार्थान्महारथान् । आचष्ट मौसले वृष्णीनन्योन्येनोपसंहृतान् ॥

dārukopi kurūngatvā dṛṣṭvā pārthānmahārathān | ācaṣṭa mausale vṛṣṇīnanyonyenopasaṃhṛtān

Daruka too went to the Kurus, saw the Pandavas, those great warriors, and told them how the Vrishnis had been destroyed by one another in the affair of the clubs.

Note on the text: Speaker heading on the page reads 'वैशम्पाय उवाच' (parser truncated the stem); settled as वैशम्पायन.

Verse 2 (16.6.2)

श्रुत्वा विनष्टान्वार्ष्णेयान्सभोजान्धककौकुरान् । पाण्डवाः शोकसंतप्ता वित्रस्तमनसोऽभवन् ॥

śrutvā vinaṣṭānvārṣṇeyānsabhojāndhakakaukurān | pāṇḍavāḥ śokasaṃtaptā vitrastamanaso'bhavan

On hearing that the Vrishnis, together with the Bhojas, Andhakas and Kukuras, had perished, the Pandavas were scorched with grief and their hearts were seized with dread.

Verse 3 (16.6.3)

ततोऽर्जुनस्तानामन्त्र्य केशवस्य प्रियः सखा । प्रययौ मातुलं द्रष्टुं नेदमस्तीति चाब्रवीत् ॥

tato'rjunastānāmantrya keśavasya priyaḥ sakhā | prayayau mātulaṃ draṣṭuṃ nedamastīti cābravīt

Then Arjuna, Keshava's dear friend, took leave of them and set out to see his maternal uncle, saying, "This cannot be true."

Verse 4 (16.6.4)

स वृष्णिनिलयं गत्वा दारुकेण सह प्रभो । ददर्श द्वारकां वीरो मृतनाथामिव स्त्रियम् ॥

sa vṛṣṇinilayaṃ gatvā dārukeṇa saha prabho | dadarśa dvārakāṃ vīro mṛtanāthāmiva striyam

O lord, going with Daruka to the abode of the Vrishnis, the hero saw Dvaraka like a woman whose husband has died.

Verse 5 (16.6.5)

याः स्म ता लोकनाथेन नाथवत्यः पुराऽभवन् । तास्त्वनाथास्तदा नाथं पार्थं दृष्ट्वा विचुक्रुशुः ॥

yāḥ sma tā lokanāthena nāthavatyaḥ purā'bhavan | tāstvanāthāstadā nāthaṃ pārthaṃ dṛṣṭvā vicukruśuḥ

The women who had once had the Lord of the World as their protector now had no protector, and on seeing Partha, whom they took for their protector, they cried out in lament.

Verse 6 (16.6.6)

षोडश स्त्रीसहस्राणि वासुदेवपरिग्रहाः । तासामासीन्महान्नादो दृष्ट्वैवार्जुनमागतम् ॥

ṣoḍaśa strīsahasrāṇi vāsudevaparigrahāḥ | tāsāmāsīnmahānnādo dṛṣṭvaivārjunamāgatam

The sixteen thousand women who were Vasudeva's wives raised a great cry the moment they saw Arjuna arrive.

Verse 7 (16.6.7)

तास्तु दृष्ट्वैव कौरव्यो बाष्पेणापिहितेक्षणः । हीनाः कृष्णेन पुत्रैश्च नाशकत्सोभिवीक्षितुम् ॥

tāstu dṛṣṭvaiva kauravyo bāṣpeṇāpihitekṣaṇaḥ | hīnāḥ kṛṣṇena putraiśca nāśakatsobhivīkṣitum

At the sight of them, the Kuru hero's eyes were veiled with tears; they were bereft of Krishna and of their sons, and he could not bear to look at them.

Verse 8 (16.6.8)

स तां वृष्ण्यन्धकजलां हयमीनां रथोडुपाम् । वादित्ररथघोषौघां वेश्मतीर्थमहाग्रहाम् ॥

sa tāṃ vṛṣṇyandhakajalāṃ hayamīnāṃ rathoḍupām | vāditrarathaghoṣaughāṃ veśmatīrthamahāgrahām

He saw Dvaraka as a river: the Vrishnis and Andhakas were its waters, the horses its fish, the chariots its rafts; the din of instruments and chariots was its flood, and its houses were its bathing-steps and its great crocodiles.

Verse 9 (16.6.9)

रत्नशैवलसंघातां वज्रप्राकारमालिनीम् । रथ्यास्रोतोजलावर्तां चत्वरस्तिमितह्रदाम् ॥

ratnaśaivalasaṃghātāṃ vajraprākāramālinīm | rathyāsrotojalāvartāṃ catvarastimitahradām

Its heaps of jewels were the moss, its diamond walls the garland about it; the streams of its streets were the whirlpools, and its crossroads the still pools.

Verse 10 (16.6.10)

रामकृष्णमहाग्राहां द्वारकां सरितं तदा । कालपाशग्रहां भीमां नदीं वैतरणीमिव ॥

rāmakṛṣṇamahāgrāhāṃ dvārakāṃ saritaṃ tadā | kālapāśagrahāṃ bhīmāṃ nadīṃ vaitaraṇīmiva

Rama and Krishna were its great crocodiles; the noose of Time was its grasping monsters. That river, Dvaraka, was fearful, like the river Vaitarani.

Verse 11 (16.6.11)

ददर्श वासविर्धीमान्विहीनां वृष्णिपुङ्गवैः । गतश्रियं निरानन्दां पद्मिनीं शिशिरे यथा ॥

dadarśa vāsavirdhīmānvihīnāṃ vṛṣṇipuṅgavaiḥ | gataśriyaṃ nirānandāṃ padminīṃ śiśire yathā

The wise son of Indra saw her, bereft of the foremost Vrishnis, her splendour gone, joyless, like a lotus-pond in winter.

Note on the text: Corrected विरानन्दां → निरानन्दां (misprint in Wikisource; 'विरानन्दां' is not a word; CE reads 'nirānandām').

Verse 12 (16.6.12)

तां दृष्ट्वा द्वारकां पार्थस्ताश्च कृष्णस्य योषितः । सस्वनं बाष्पमुत्सृज्य निपपात महीतले ॥

tāṃ dṛṣṭvā dvārakāṃ pārthastāśca kṛṣṇasya yoṣitaḥ | sasvanaṃ bāṣpamutsṛjya nipapāta mahītale

Seeing Dvaraka and those wives of Krishna, Partha wept aloud with a flood of tears and fell to the ground.

Note on the text: Corrected निपात महीतले → निपपात महीतले (misprint in Wikisource; a syllable dropped; CE reads 'nipapāta' (he fell)).

Verse 13 (16.6.13)

सात्राजिती ततः सत्या रुक्मिणी च विशांपते । अभिपत्य प्ररुरुदुः परिवार्य धनंजयम् ॥

sātrājitī tataḥ satyā rukmiṇī ca viśāṃpate | abhipatya praruruduḥ parivārya dhanaṃjayam

Then Satrajit's daughter Satyabhama, and Rukmini, O lord of men, rushed to him and, gathering round Dhananjaya, wept.

Verse 14 (16.6.14)

ततस्तं काञ्चने पीठे समुत्थाप्योपवेश्य च । अभिनन्द्य महात्मानं परिवार्योपतस्थिरे ॥

tatastaṃ kāñcane pīṭhe samutthāpyopaveśya ca | abhinandya mahātmānaṃ parivāryopatasthire

Then they raised the great-souled one up and seated him on a golden stool, and having welcomed him they stood around him.

Note on the text: Corrected समुत्ताप्योपवेश्य → समुत्थाप्योपवेश्य (misprint in Wikisource; 'samuttāpya' is a misprint for 'samutthāpya' (having raised up); CE reads 'samutthāyopaveśya'). First half differs from CE 6.14 ('tatas tāḥ … samutthāyopaveśya ca / abruvantyo mahātmānam …'); Wikisource's 'अभिनन्द्य' is a recension variant (the page's own footnote records 'अब्रुवन्त्यो महामानम्' as another manuscript reading).

Verse 15 (16.6.15)

ततः संस्तूय गोविन्दं कथयित्वा च पाण्डवः । आश्वास्य ताः स्त्रियश्चापि मातुलं द्रष्टुमभ्यगात् ॥

tataḥ saṃstūya govindaṃ kathayitvā ca pāṇḍavaḥ | āśvāsya tāḥ striyaścāpi mātulaṃ draṣṭumabhyagāt

Then the son of Pandu praised Govinda and spoke of him, and having comforted the women as well, went to see his maternal uncle.