Shloka 31

Vṛddha-kanyā-carita and Balarāma’s Kurukṣetra Inquiry (वृद्धकन्या-चरितम् / कुरुक्षेत्रफल-प्रश्नः)

Devanagari script

तस्यास्थिभिरथो शक्र: सम्प्रहृष्टमनास्तदा । कारयामास दिव्यानि नानाप्रहरणानि च

Transliteration

tasyāsthibir atho śakraḥ samprahṛṣṭamanās tadā | kārayāmāsa divyāni nānāpraharāṇāni ca ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Da ließ Śakra (Indra), von Freude erfüllt, aus den Knochen jenes Wesens mancherlei göttliche Waffen schmieden.

Word by Word

तस्यof him/that

अस्थिभिःwith bones

अथthen/now

शक्रःŚakra (Indra)

सम्प्रहृष्टमनाःhaving a delighted mind

तदाat that time

कारयामासcaused to be made / had made

दिव्यानिdivine

नाना-प्रहरणानिvarious weapons

चand

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Śakra (Indra)

asthi (bones)

divya praharaṇa (divine weapons)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a recurring Mahābhārata ethic: great power and protection often arise from prior sacrifice and accumulated merit. Even divine weaponry is portrayed as rooted in a morally charged source, implying that force in war is not merely technical but connected to dharma, austerity, and earned potency.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that Indra (Śakra), pleased, commissions the making of many celestial weapons using the bones of a particular being previously mentioned in the surrounding context. The line functions as a brief etiological note explaining the origin of certain divine armaments.