Analysis of Mahabharata, Book XI - Kuru Women Visit The Battle-Field
Spake the ancient Dhrita-rashtra, father of a hundred sons,
Sonless now and sorrow-stricken, dark his ebbing life-tide runs:
'Gods fulfil my life's last wishes! Henchmen, yoke my royal car,
Dhrita-rashtra meets his princes in the silent field of war,
Speed unto the Queen Gandhari, to the dames of Kuru's house,
To each dear departed warrior wends his fair and faithful spouse! '
Queen Gandhari sorrow-laden with the ancient Pritha came,
And each weeping widowed princess and each wailing childless dame,
And they saw the hoary monarch, father of a perished race,
Fresh and loud awoke their sorrow, welling tears suffused their face,
Good Vidura ever gentle whispered comfort unto all,
Placed the dames within their chariots, left Hastina's palace hall!
Loud the wail of woe and sorrow rose from every Kuru house,
Children wept beside their mothers for each widowed royal spouse,
Veiléd dwellers of the palace, scarce the gods their face had seen,
Heedless now through mart and city sped each widowed childless queen,
From their royal brow and bosom gem and jewel cast aside,
Loose their robes and loose their tresses, quenched their haughty queenly pride!
So when falls the antlered monarch, struck by woe and sudden fear
Issuing from their snowy mountains listless stray the dappled deer,
So when smit by sudden panic, milk-white mares that scour the plain,
Wildly toss their flowing tresses, shake their soft and glossy mane!
Clinging to her weeping sister wept each dame in cureless pain,
For the lord the son or father in the deathful battle slain,
Wept and smote her throbbing bosom and in bitter anguish walled,
Till her senses reeled in sorrow, till her woman's reason failed!
Veiléd queens and bashful maidens, erst they shunned the public eye,
Blush nor shame suffused their faces as they passed the city by,
Gentle-bosomed, kindly hearted, erst they wiped each other's tear,
Now by common sorrow laden knew no sister's words of cheer!
With this troop of wailing women, deep in woe, disconsolate,
Slow the monarch of the Kurus passed Hastina's outer gate,
Men from stall and loom and anvil, men of every guild and trade,
Left the city with the monarch, through the open country strayed,
And a universal sorrow filled the air and answering sky,
As when ends the mortal's Yuga and the end of world is nigh!
Scheme | AA XX BB CC DD EE BB FF GG HH II II XX JJ XH GX KK JJ |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010111010101 11010101110111 11111101011101 1111100010111 110011101111 1110101001110101 111010101011 011010100110101 01101011010101 101011101010111 1110101010101 10101110011101 101110101110011 101011101110101 111010101011111 11110101110101 111010101010101 11101110111011 11101011110101 100111010101011 1111101011111001 101110101110101 10101010111011 10101110001101 101010100010101 101010101010101 111010101110101 111011101110101 10110101111101 111010101110111 111110101011 10110111101 1110101011100101 10101011010101 000101010101001 1110110011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 2,294 |
Words | 390 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 51 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 103 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:59 min read
- 141 Views
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"Mahabharata, Book XI - Kuru Women Visit The Battle-Field" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/43560/mahabharata%2C-book-xi---kuru-women-visit-the-battle-field>.
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