Shloka 8
आयुधस्य परिज्ञानं रुतं च मृगपक्षिणाम् | भारश्षाप्यतिभारकश्न शल्यानां च प्रतिक्रिया
āyudhasya parijñānaṃ rutaṃ ca mṛgapakṣiṇām | bhāraś cāpy atibhārakaś ca śalyānāṃ ca pratikriyā ||
Sañjaya sprach: „(Er besaß) kundige Kenntnis der Waffen; er vermochte die Rufe von Wild und Vögeln zu deuten; er verstand das Maß der Lasten — der angemessenen wie der übermäßigen — und kannte auch Heilmittel und Gegenmaßnahmen gegen Wunden durch Geschosse und Splitter.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of comprehensive competence in a warrior’s world: mastery of arms, attentiveness to signs in nature, and practical wisdom about bodily limits and medical remedies. Ethically, it suggests that power in war is not only aggression but also disciplined knowledge and responsibility toward life and injury.
Sañjaya is describing a person’s capabilities and training in the context of the Karṇa Parva’s battlefield narrative—enumerating skills such as weapon-expertise, interpreting animal and bird calls (often treated as omens), judging burdens, and knowing treatments for wounds caused by embedded missiles or splinters.