Shloka 104

Devanagari script

एवं स वै महाकायो मायया लाघवेन च । अस्त्राणि तानि दिव्यानि जघान रिपुसूदन:,इस प्रकार शत्रुओंका संहार करनेवाले विशालकाय घटोत्कचने अपनी माया तथा अस्त्र-संचालनकी शीघ्रतासे कर्णके उन दिव्यास्त्रोंको नष्ट कर दिया

Transliteration

evaṁ sa vai mahākāyo māyayā lāghavena ca | astrāṇi tāni divyāni jaghāna ripusūdanaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: So machte jener mächtige, riesenhafte Krieger, der Feindbezwinger, durch die Kraft seiner Täuschung und durch schnelle Meisterschaft im Waffengebrauch jene himmlischen Geschosse unwirksam.

Word by Word

एवम्thus

सःhe

वैindeed

महाकायःhuge-bodied

माययाby (his) magic/illusion

लाघवेनby swiftness/lightness

चand

अस्त्राणिweapons (missiles)

तानिthose

दिव्यानिdivine

जघानstruck down/destroyed

रिपुसूदनःenemy-slayer

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

ripusūdanaḥ (enemy-slayer; epithet of the warrior described)

divyāni astrāṇi (celestial weapons)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores that in war, outcomes can be shaped by extraordinary capacities—māyā (strategic illusion) and lāghava (speed/agility)—even against divinely empowered weapons, raising the ethical tension between sheer prowess and moral right.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a gigantic enemy-slaying warrior uses illusion and rapid weapon-handling to destroy or neutralize a set of celestial missiles that had been deployed against him.