Shloka 54
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
बलाहकादुच्चरत: सुभीमान् विद्युत्स्फुलिड्रानिव घोररूपान् | सहस्रध्नान् द्विषतां सड़रेषु अस्थिच्छिदो मर्मभिद: सुपुड्खान्
balāhakād uccarataḥ subhīmān vidyut-sphuliṅgān iva ghora-rūpān | sahasra-ghnān dviṣatāṁ śarāṇeṣu asthi-cchido marma-bhidaḥ su-puṅkhān ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Vom Bogen Gāṇḍīva werden Pfeile hervorschießen—schrecklich anzusehen—wie grauenvolle Blitzfunken, die aus einer Gewitterwolke bersten. Mit schönen Federn versehen und scharf zugespitzt, werden sie Knochen spalten und Lebenspunkte durchbohren; in den Reihen der Feinde werden sie zu Schlächteren von Tausenden. Wenn Duryodhana, der Sohn Dhṛtarāṣṭras, diese Verwüstung auf dem Schlachtfeld erblickt, wird er die Torheit bitter bereuen, diesen Krieg entfesselt zu haben.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral consequence of adharma-driven choices: initiating an unjust war out of pride and greed leads not to glory but to catastrophic suffering and inevitable remorse when the reality of violence becomes undeniable.
Sañjaya vividly foretells the battlefield outcome: Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva will unleash fearsome, well-feathered arrows likened to lightning-sparks from a storm cloud, slaughtering enemy ranks by cutting bones and piercing vital points; seeing this, Duryodhana will repent having set the war in motion.