Shloka 28

Karṇa’s advance against the Pāṇḍava host; Arjuna’s clash with the Saṃśaptakas (कर्णस्य पाण्डवसेनाप्रवेशः—अर्जुनस्य संशप्तकसंप्रहारः)

Devanagari script

संतुष्टमवृणोद्‌ देवं वापी भवतु नः पुरे

Transliteration

santuṣṭam avṛṇod devaṃ vāpi bhavatu naḥ pure, tapa ugraṃ samāsthāya niyame parame sthitāḥ |

Translation

Duryodhana sprach: „Als er zufrieden war, erwählte er die Gottheit: ‚In unserer Stadt soll ein Brunnen sein.‘ Wir haben vernommen, dass damals die Götter die Daityas besiegten. O König, als die Daityas überwunden waren, nahmen die drei Söhne des Tārakāsura—Tārakākṣa, Kamalākṣa und Vidyunmālī—Zuflucht zu grimmiger Askese und blieben standhaft in den höchsten Zucht- und Enthaltsamkeitsgelübden.“

Word by Word

• {'santuṣṭa': 'satisfied, pleased', 'avṛṇot (√vṛ)': 'chose, selected, requested', 'deva': 'a god

• deity', 'vāpi': 'well

• water-tank', 'bhavatu': 'let it be

• may it become', 'naḥ': 'for us

• our', 'pure': 'in the city', 'tapas': 'austerity

• disciplined effort', 'ugra': 'fierce

• intense', 'samāsthāya': 'having undertaken

• having resorted to', 'niyama': 'observance

• religious discipline', 'parama': 'supreme

• highest', 'sthitāḥ': 'standing firm

• steadfast', 'devāḥ': 'the gods', 'daityāḥ': 'Daityas

• a class of anti-gods/demons', 'parājita': 'defeated, overcome', 'śruta': 'heard

• known by report', 'putrāḥ': 'sons', 'tārakāsura': 'Tārakāsura (a demon figure)', 'tārakākṣa': 'Tārakākṣa (name of a demon)', 'kamalākṣa': 'Kamalākṣa (name of a demon)', 'vidyunmālī': 'Vidyunmālī (name of a demon)'}

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• Devas (gods)
• Daityas
• Tārakāsura
• Tārakākṣa
• Kamalākṣa
• Vidyunmālī
• vāpi (well/reservoir)
• pura (city)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights how intense discipline (tapas) and strict observances (niyama) can generate formidable power and influence outcomes, even for adversarial beings; it also implies an ethical warning that power gained through austerity is morally neutral and depends on the wielder’s intent.

What is happening in the narrative?

Duryodhana cites an earlier mythic report: after the gods defeated the Daityas, Tārakāsura’s three sons undertook fierce austerities and maintained supreme restraints, setting the stage for later boons or extraordinary capabilities that affect cosmic and political conflict.