Shloka 9
वज्रदत्तेन सह अर्जुनयुद्धम्
Arjuna’s engagement with Vajradatta during the Aśvamedha circuit
स वारणं नगप्रख्यं प्रभिन्नकरटामुखम् । प्रेषयामास संक्रुद्धः श्वेताश्वं प्रति पार्थिव:
sa vāraṇaṁ nagaprakhyaṁ prabhinnakaraṭāmukham | preṣayāmāsa saṅkruddhaḥ śvetāśvaṁ prati pārthivaḥ ||
ক্রোধে উন্মত্ত রাজা বজ্রদত্ত পর্বতসম, মদধারা ঝরতে থাকা কপোলবিশিষ্ট সেই মহাগজকে শ্বেতাশ্বধ্বজ অর্জুনের দিকে প্রেরণ করলেন।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how krodha (anger) can override discernment: a ruler, driven by rage, unleashes disproportionate force. In dharmic terms, power should be governed by self-control; otherwise, it intensifies harm and disorder.
The narrator states that an enraged king dispatches a massive rutting war-elephant—described as mountain-like and streaming temple-fluid—charging it toward Śvetāśva, i.e., Arjuna’s white-horsed chariot in the battle episode of the Aśvamedhika Parva.