Shloka 8

पाण्डवसेनानायकाभिषेकः तथा बलरामागमन-उपदेशः | Appointment of Pandava Commanders and Balarama’s Counsel

Devanagari script

सकीलकवचा: सर्वे वासीवृक्षादनान्विता: । व्याप्रचर्मपरीवारा द्वीपिचर्मावृताश्च ते

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

sa-kīlaka-vacāḥ sarve vāsī-vṛkṣa-danānvitāḥ |

vyāghra-carma-parīvārā dvīpi-carmāvṛtāś ca te ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Sie alle waren mit Schutzbeschlägen und Befestigungen ausgerüstet, mit Äxten und anderen Geräten zum Holzschlag versehen und mit allerlei Werkzeugen ausgestattet. Ihre Wagen und ihr Gerät waren von Tigerfellüberzügen umgeben und zudem in Leopardenfelle gehüllt — Zeichen vollendeter Kriegsbereitschaft und des düsteren Entschlusses, der dem Krieg vorausgeht.

Word by Word

• सकीलकवचाः: having (protective) कवच with wooden pins/blocks (i.e., well-fastened armor)
• सकीलकवचाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सकीलकवच
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वासीवृक्षादनान्विताः: equipped with adana (implements) such as adzes/axes and tree-cutting tools
• वासीवृक्षादनान्विताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वासीवृक्षादनान्वित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• व्याघ्रचर्मपरीवाराः: having coverings/outer-gear of tiger-skin
• व्याघ्रचर्मपरीवाराः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्याघ्रचर्मपरीवार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• द्वीपिचर्मावृताः: covered with leopard-skin
• द्वीपिचर्मावृताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वीपिचर्मावृत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• kīlaka (pegs/fastenings)
• vāsī (axe/adze)
• vṛkṣa-dana (wood-cutting tools)
• vyāghra-carma (tiger-skin coverings)
• dvīpi-carma (leopard-skin coverings)
• chariots/war-gear (implied by coverings and fittings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the inevitability and gravity of armed conflict once mobilization is complete: when forces are fully equipped and protected, the momentum toward battle increases, highlighting the ethical urgency of timely diplomacy before preparations harden into violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes troops and their equipment in a state of readiness—tools, fittings, and protective hide coverings—depicting the logistical and material preparations that accompany the march toward the Kurukṣetra war.