Mahabharata 3.39.3 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 39, Shloka 3
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
श्रीमद् धनुरुपादाय शरांश्चवाशीविषोपमान् । निष्पपात महावेगो दहनो देहवानिव,वे एक शोभायमान धनुष और सर्पोके समान विषाक्त बाण लेकर बड़े वेगसे चले। मानो साक्षात् अग्निदेव ही देह धारण करके निकले हों
śrīmad dhanuḥ upādāya śarāṃś ca āśīviṣopamān | niṣpapāta mahāvego dahano dehavān iva ||
قال فايشَمبايانا: تناول قوسه البهيّ وسهامه التي سمّها كسمّ الأفاعي القاتلة، فانقضّ بسرعة هائلة—كأن إله النار نفسه قد تجسّد واندفع إلى الفعل. ويزيد هذا البيت من توتّر المشهد الأخلاقي: إذ تُصوَّر القوة والاستعداد للقتال كقوى مهيبة، إذا أُطلقت أحرقت كبح النفس وجلبت عواقب سريعة.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how martial power, once taken up, becomes a force like fire—swift, consuming, and difficult to contain. Ethically, it hints that strength must be governed by discernment; otherwise it can scorch both the target and the moral order surrounding the act.
A warrior (implicitly understood from context) arms himself with a splendid bow and deadly arrows and rushes forward at great speed. The narrator intensifies the scene by comparing him to embodied Fire (Agni), signaling imminent, potentially devastating action.
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