Mahabharata 7.11.21 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 11, Shloka 21

Droṇa’s Conditional Boon: The Plan to Capture Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रोणेन युधिष्ठिरग्रहणोपायः)

Devanagari script

इसी प्रकार हृषीकेशने पाताल-निवासी पंचजन नामक दैत्यको युद्धमें मारकर दिव्य पाज्चजन्य शंख प्राप्त किया ।।

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

khāṇḍave pārthasahitastōṣayitvā hutāśanam |

āgneyam astram durdharṣaṃ cakra lebhe mahābalaḥ ||

iti prakāraṃ hṛṣīkeśena pātāla-nivāsī pañcajana-nāmā daityo yuddhe hataḥ, divyaḥ pāñcajanya-śaṅkhaś ca prāptaḥ |

Translation

বৈশম্পায়ন বললেন— খাণ্ডব বনে পার্থ (অর্জুন)-সহ হুতাশন (অগ্নিদেব)-কে সন্তুষ্ট করে মহাবলী হৃষীকেশ (শ্রীকৃষ্ণ) দুর্ধর্ষ আগ্নেয় অস্ত্র—চক্র—লাভ করেছিলেন।

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'khāṇḍave': 'in the Khāṇḍava (forest)', 'pārtha-sahitaḥ': 'together with Pārtha (Arjuna)', 'toṣayitvā': 'having pleased, having satisfied', 'hutāśanam': "the Fire-god (Agni), literally 'eater of oblations'", 'āgneyam astram': 'the Agneya weapon (fire-related divine missile/weapon)', 'durdharṣam': 'hard to assail, formidable, irresistible', 'cakram': 'discus (cakra), a wheel-like weapon', 'lebhe': 'obtained, received', 'mahābalaḥ': 'of great strength, mighty', 'hṛṣīkeśa': "Hṛṣīkeśa, epithet of Kṛṣṇa ('lord of the senses')", 'pātāla-nivāsī': 'dwelling in Pātāla (the netherworld)', 'pañcajana-nāmā': 'named Pañcajana', 'daityaḥ': 'a Daitya (demonic being, enemy of the gods)', 'yuddhe hataḥ': 'slain in battle', 'divyaḥ': 'divine, celestial', 'pāñcajanya-śaṅkhaḥ': 'the conch named Pāñcajanya'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Hṛṣīkeśa (Kṛṣṇa)
• Pārtha (Arjuna)
• Khāṇḍava forest
• Hutāśana (Agni)
• Agneya astra
• Cakra (discus)
• Pātāla
• Pañcajana (Daitya)
• Pāñcajanya (conch)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Power and sacred authority are portrayed as earned through actions that uphold cosmic balance—serving rightful allies, restraining destructive forces, and aligning with divine purpose—rather than through mere possession or status.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana recalls how Kṛṣṇa, alongside Arjuna, satisfied Agni in the Khāṇḍava forest and received a formidable fire-associated weapon in the form of a discus; he also notes Kṛṣṇa’s earlier slaying of the Daitya Pañcajana in Pātāla, by which Kṛṣṇa obtained the divine conch Pāñcajanya.