Shloka 32
अग्निभय-प्रसङ्गे मन्दपालस्य शोकः
Mandapāla’s Lament amid the Threat of Fire
गाण्डीवं धनुरादाय तथाक्षय्ये महेषुधी । अहमप्युत्सहे लोकान् विजेतुं युधि पावक,पावक! मैं भी यह गाण्डीव धनुष और ये दोनों बड़े-बड़े अक्षय तरकस लेकर सम्पूर्ण लोकोंको युद्धमें जीत लेनेका उत्साह रखता हूँ
arjuna uvāca | gāṇḍīvaṃ dhanur ādāya tathākṣayyau maheṣudhī | aham apy utsahe lokān vijetuṃ yudhi pāvaka ||
Arjuna sprach: „Indem ich den Bogen Gāṇḍīva ergreife und ebenso diese beiden großen, unerschöpflichen Köcher, fühle auch ich den Entschluss, die Welten im Kampf zu bezwingen, o Pāvaka.“ Im Zusammenhang vermittelt die Zeile den Aufschwung des Kriegerselbstvertrauens, getragen von Waffen göttlichen Ranges und dem kṣatriya-Ideal der Tapferkeit, deutet jedoch zugleich die ethische Spannung an, die im Streben nach ‘Welteroberung’ durch Krieg liegt—ein Ehrgeiz, den die Mahābhārata immer wieder am Maß von Dharma und Selbstzucht prüft.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds kṣatriya resolve and the intoxicating confidence that comes from power and superior arms. Ethically, it invites reflection on how martial capability and ambition (‘conquering the worlds’) must be checked by dharma—right purpose, proportionality, and restraint—an enduring Mahābhārata concern.
Arjuna, speaking directly, declares his readiness to take up the Gāṇḍīva and his two inexhaustible quivers and to win victory in battle. He addresses ‘Pāvaka’ (Fire), indicating a dialogue context involving the fire-deity or a figure so named, and emphasizes his surge of martial enthusiasm.