Shloka 106

Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya

Chapter 29

Devanagari script

हिरण्यकवचा: सर्वे सर्वे चोत्तमधन्विन:

Transliteration

hiraṇyakavacāḥ sarve sarve cottamadhanvinaḥ |

Translation

قال فايُو: «كانوا جميعًا يلبسون دروعًا من ذهب، وكان كلُّ واحدٍ منهم رامِيًا ماهرًا.» تُبرز هذه الآية رخاءَ المُلك واستعدادَ القتال—وهما علامتان ظاهرتان للقوة—غير أنّها، في الإطار الأخلاقي لكتاب شَانتي پَرفا، تدعو إلى التأمّل في أنّ الثروة والبأس العسكري ينبغي أن يُسَيَّرا بالدهرما (dharma) لا بالكِبْر ولا بالإفراط.

Word by Word

• हिरण्यकवचाः: having golden armor
• हिरण्यकवचाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हिरण्यकवच
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• उत्तमधन्विनः: excellent bowmen
• उत्तमधन्विनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्तमधन्विन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Wind-god)
• golden armor (kavaca)
• bows/archery (dhanus implied by dhanvin)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents splendor and military excellence as outward markers of royal power; in the Śānti Parva’s ethical atmosphere, such power is implicitly to be restrained and directed by dharma, not treated as an end in itself.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu describes a group of princes/warriors as uniformly equipped with golden armor and renowned for superior archery, emphasizing their formidable status and resources.