Dhritarashtra Sets Out for the Battlefield

Verse 1 (11.9.1)

गते व्यासे तु धर्मात्मा धृतराष्ट्रो महीपतिः । किमचेष्टत विप्रर्षे तन्मे व्याख्यातुमर्हसि ॥

gate vyāse tu dharmātmā dhṛtarāṣṭro mahīpatiḥ | kimaceṣṭata viprarṣe tanme vyākhyātumarhasi

When Vyasa had gone, O sage among brahmins, what did the righteous king Dhritarashtra do? Please tell me this.

Note on the text: Moved the heading «`जनमेजय उवाच» (printed inside the verse, with a stray backtick) into the speaker field. Lines map to CE 11.9.1ab/cd; the first line differs in wording (Wikisource: gate vyāse tu dharmātmā … ; CE: gate bhagavati vyāse …). The CE also prints a long Appendix I passage after this verse (Appendix I passage 1, printed inline as @001_0001 to @001_0044) that Wikisource does not have.

Verse 2 (11.9.2)

एतच्छ्रुत्वा नरश्रेष्ठश्चिरं ध्यात्वा त्वचेतनः । सञ्जयं योजयेत्युक्त्वा विदुरं प्रत्यभाषत ॥

etacchrutvā naraśreṣṭhaściraṃ dhyātvā tvacetanaḥ | sañjayaṃ yojayetyuktvā viduraṃ pratyabhāṣata

Hearing this, that best of men fell into long thought, his mind numbed. Telling Sanjaya to make ready the conveyance, he spoke to Vidura.

Note on the text: The critical edition has a variant couplet after 11.9.2 (star passage *0031, vidurasya tu tad vākyaṃ …); Wikisource prints it only after the closing colophon, so it is not part of this text.

Verse 3 (11.9.3)

क्षिप्रमानय गान्धारीं सर्वाश्च भरतस्त्रियः । कुन्तीं चैव तथा क्षत्तः समानय ममाऽन्तिकम् ॥

kṣipramānaya gāndhārīṃ sarvāśca bharatastriyaḥ | kuntīṃ caiva tathā kṣattaḥ samānaya mamā'ntikam

Quickly bring Gandhari and all the women of the Bharata house. And bring Kunti too, O Kshattri, into my presence.

Note on the text: Removed the stray closing quote mark (') after ममाऽन्तिकम्. Direct speech of Dhritarashtra (the page prints no heading; the quote mark ends his words). The first line matches CE 11.9.3ab; the second line differs from CE 11.9.3cd (vadhūṃ kuntīm upādāya …), which survives only in the variant block printed after the colophon.

Verse 4 (11.9.4)

एवमुक्त्वा स धर्मात्मा विदुरं धर्मवित्तमम् । शोकविप्रहतज्ञानो यानमेवान्वरोहत ॥

evamuktvā sa dharmātmā viduraṃ dharmavittamam | śokaviprahatajñāno yānamevānvarohata

Having spoken thus to Vidura, the best of those who know dharma, that righteous-souled king, his understanding shattered by grief, climbed into his carriage.

Verse 5 (11.9.5)

गान्धारी पुत्रशोकार्ता भर्तुर्वचननोदिता । सह कुन्त्या यतो राजा सह स्त्रीभिरुपाद्रवत् ॥

gāndhārī putraśokārtā bharturvacananoditā | saha kuntyā yato rājā saha strībhirupādravat

Gandhari, tormented by grief for her sons and urged on by her husband's words, hurried with Kunti and the other women to where the king was.

Verse 6 (11.9.6)

ताः समासाद्य राजानं भृशं शोकसमन्विताः । आमन्त्र्यान्योन्यमायस्ता भृशमुच्चुक्रुशुस्ततः ॥

tāḥ samāsādya rājānaṃ bhṛśaṃ śokasamanvitāḥ | āmantryānyonyamāyastā bhṛśamuccukruśustataḥ

Reaching the king, filled with deep sorrow, they called out to one another, worn out with grief, and wailed loudly.

Verse 7 (11.9.7)

ताः समाश्वासयत्क्षत्ता ताभ्यश्चार्ततरः स्वयम् । अश्रुकण्ठीः समारोप्य ततोऽसौ निर्ययौ पुरात् ॥

tāḥ samāśvāsayatkṣattā tābhyaścārtataraḥ svayam | aśrukaṇṭhīḥ samāropya tato'sau niryayau purāt

Kshattri comforted them, though he was himself more afflicted than they; then, helping the women, their throats choked with tears, to mount, he went out of the city.

Verse 8 (11.9.8)

ततः प्रणादः सञ्जज्ञे सर्वेषु कुरुवेश्मसु । आकुमारं पुरं सर्वमभवच्छोककर्शितम् ॥

tataḥ praṇādaḥ sañjajñe sarveṣu kuruveśmasu | ākumāraṃ puraṃ sarvamabhavacchokakarśitam

Then a cry of lament arose in all the houses of the Kurus, and the whole city, down to the children, was wasted with grief.

Verse 9 (11.9.9)

अदृष्टपूर्वा या नार्यः पुरा देवगणैरपि । पृथग्जनेन दृश्यन्ते तास्तदा निहतेश्वराः ॥

adṛṣṭapūrvā yā nāryaḥ purā devagaṇairapi | pṛthagjanena dṛśyante tāstadā nihateśvarāḥ

The women who had never been seen before, even by hosts of gods, were seen then by ordinary people, their lords slain.

Verse 10 (11.9.10)

प्रकीर्य केशान्सुशुभान्भूषणान्यवमुच्य च । एकवस्त्रधरा नार्यः परिपेतुरनाथवत् ॥

prakīrya keśānsuśubhānbhūṣaṇānyavamucya ca | ekavastradharā nāryaḥ paripeturanāthavat

Scattering their lovely hair and flinging off their ornaments, the women, each wearing a single garment, ran about like women without protector.

Verse 11 (11.9.11)

श्वेतपर्वतरूपेभ्यो गृहेभ्यस्ता निराक्रमन् । गुहाभ्य इव शैलानां पृषत्यो हतयूथपाः ॥

śvetaparvatarūpebhyo gṛhebhyastā nirākraman | guhābhya iva śailānāṃ pṛṣatyo hatayūthapāḥ

They came out of their houses, which looked like white mountains, as spotted does whose herd-leaders have been slain come out of mountain caves.

Note on the text: Corrected श्वतेपर्वतरूपेभ्यो → श्वेतपर्वतरूपेभ्यो (misprint in Wikisource; the vowel sign ए is displaced (श्वते for श्वेत); the critical edition reads śvetaparvatarūpebhyaḥ).

Verse 12 (11.9.12)

तान्युदीर्णानि नारीणां तदा वृन्दान्यनेकशः । शोकार्तान्यद्रवन्राजन्किशोरीणामिवाङ्गणे ॥

tānyudīrṇāni nārīṇāṃ tadā vṛndānyanekaśaḥ | śokārtānyadravanrājankiśorīṇāmivāṅgaṇe

Those crowds of women, in their many throngs, O king, rushed forth stricken with grief, like fillies in a courtyard.

Verse 13 (11.9.13)

प्रगृह्य बाहून्क्रोशन्त्यः पुत्रान्भ्रातॄन्पितॄनपि । दर्शयन्ति हता हि स्म युगान्ते लोकसङ्क्षयम् ॥

pragṛhya bāhūnkrośantyaḥ putrānbhrātṝnpitṝnapi | darśayanti hatā hi sma yugānte lokasaṅkṣayam

Raising their arms and crying out for their sons, brothers and fathers, struck down as they were, they seemed to show the destruction of the world at the end of an age.

Verse 14 (11.9.14)

विलपन्त्यो रुदन्त्यश्च धावमानास्ततस्ततः । शोकेनोपहतज्ञानाः कर्तव्यं न प्रजज्ञिरे ॥

vilapantyo rudantyaśca dhāvamānāstatastataḥ | śokenopahatajñānāḥ kartavyaṃ na prajajñire

Lamenting, weeping and running here and there, their senses overwhelmed by grief, they did not know what was to be done.

Note on the text: Corrected शोकेनोपहतज्ञाताः → शोकेनोपहतज्ञानाः (misprint in Wikisource; a mistyped consonant (ता for ना); the critical edition reads śokenābhyāhatajñānāḥ).

Verse 15 (11.9.15)

व्रीडां जग्मुः पुरा याः स्म सखीनामपि योषितः । ता एकवस्त्रा निर्लज्जाः श्वश्रूणां पुरतोऽभवन् ॥

vrīḍāṃ jagmuḥ purā yāḥ sma sakhīnāmapi yoṣitaḥ | tā ekavastrā nirlajjāḥ śvaśrūṇāṃ purato'bhavan

Women who once shrank in shame even before their friends now stood shameless before their mothers-in-law, each in a single garment.

Verse 16 (11.9.16)

परस्परं सुसूक्ष्मेषु शोकेष्वाश्वासयन्ति याः । ताः शोकविह्वला राजन्नवैक्षन्त परस्परम् ॥

parasparaṃ susūkṣmeṣu śokeṣvāśvāsayanti yāḥ | tāḥ śokavihvalā rājannavaikṣanta parasparam

Those who used to console one another in even the slightest griefs, O king, now, bewildered by sorrow, only looked at one another.

Verse 17 (11.9.17)

ताभिः परिवृतो राजा रुदतीभिः सहस्रशः । निर्ययौ नगराद्दीनस्तूर्णमायोधनं प्रति ॥

tābhiḥ parivṛto rājā rudatībhiḥ sahasraśaḥ | niryayau nagarāddīnastūrṇamāyodhanaṃ prati

Surrounded by those weeping women, thousands upon thousands, the dejected king went out of the city, swiftly, toward the battlefield.

Verse 18 (11.9.18)

शिल्पिनो वणिजो वैश्याः सर्वे कर्मोपजीविनः । ते पार्थिवं पुरस्कृत्य निर्ययुर्नगराद्बहिः ॥

śilpino vaṇijo vaiśyāḥ sarve karmopajīvinaḥ | te pārthivaṃ puraskṛtya niryayurnagarādbahiḥ

Craftsmen, merchants, vaishyas, all who live by their work, put the king at their head and went out of the city.

Verse 19 (11.9.19)

तेषां विक्रोशमानानामार्तानां कुरुसङ्क्षये । प्रादुरासीन्महाञ्शब्दो व्यथयन्भुवनान्युत ॥

teṣāṃ vikrośamānānāmārtānāṃ kurusaṅkṣaye | prādurāsīnmahāñśabdo vyathayanbhuvanānyuta

As those afflicted people cried out over the destruction of the Kurus, a great sound arose that shook the worlds.

Verse 20 (11.9.20)

युगान्तकाले सम्प्राप्ते भूतानां दह्यतामिव । अभावस्योदयः प्राप्त इति भूतानि मेनिरे ॥

yugāntakāle samprāpte bhūtānāṃ dahyatāmiva | abhāvasyodayaḥ prāpta iti bhūtāni menire

Creatures felt, as the age's end came upon them and they seemed to burn, that the moment of utter non-existence had arrived.

Verse 21 (11.9.21)

भृशमुद्विग्नमनसस्ते पौराः कुरुसङ्क्षये । प्राक्रोशन्त महाराज स्वनुरक्तास्तदा भृशम् ॥

bhṛśamudvignamanasaste paurāḥ kurusaṅkṣaye | prākrośanta mahārāja svanuraktāstadā bhṛśam

The citizens, their minds deeply shaken by the destruction of the Kurus, cried out aloud, O great king, so strongly were they attached to them.