Shloka 23

अर्जुनागमनम्

Arjuna’s Arrival and Reunion on the Sacred Mountain

Devanagari script

प्रत्यक्ष॑ सर्वभूतानां नदीमश्चरथां प्रति । खाण्डवे सत्यसंधेन भ्रात्रा तव महात्मना,तवापि सुमहत्‌ तेजो महद्‌ बाहुबलं च ते । अविषदहामनाधृुष्यं शक्रतुल्यपराक्रम “आर्यपुत्र! तुम्हारा पराक्रम भी इन्द्रके ही समान है। तुम्हारा तेज और बाहुबल भी महान्‌ है। वह दूसरोंके लिये दुःसह एवं दुर्धर्ष है

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

pratyakṣaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ nadīm aścarathāṃ prati |

khāṇḍave satyasaṃdhena bhrātrā tava mahātmanā |

tavāpi sumahat tejo mahad bāhubalaṃ ca te |

aviṣahyam anādhṛṣyaṃ śakratulya-parākramam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Vor den Augen aller Wesen zogst du zum Fluss. Im Khāṇḍava‑Wald ließ dein großherziger Bruder—dem Gelübde treu—deine Kraft offenbar werden. Dein Glanz ist überaus groß, und ebenso die Stärke deiner Arme. Für andere ist sie unerträglich, uneinnehmbar, und dein Heldenmut ist dem Indras gleich.“

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'pratyakṣam': 'directly, before one’s eyes

• manifestly', 'sarvabhūtānām': 'of all beings/creatures', 'nadīm': 'to the river', 'aścarathām prati': 'toward (in the direction of) the Aścarathā (river-name as read in this pāṭha)', 'khāṇḍave': 'in Khāṇḍava (forest/region)', 'satyasaṃdhena': 'by one steadfast in truth/vows

• true to his pledge', 'bhrātrā': 'by (your) brother', 'tava': 'your', 'mahātmanā': 'great-souled, noble-minded', 'tavāpi': 'and yours too', 'sumahat': 'very great', 'tejaḥ': 'splendor, spiritual/heroic radiance, power', 'bāhubalam': 'strength of arms

• martial might', 'aviṣahyam': 'unendurable, hard to bear (for opponents)', 'anādhṛṣyam': 'unassailable, not to be overpowered', 'śakratulya-parākramam': 'having valor equal to Śakra (Indra)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Khāṇḍava (forest)
• Śakra (Indra)
• the addressed person (tava)
• the brother described as satyasaṃdha (likely Arjuna in Khāṇḍava context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises righteous, vow-steadfast heroism: true power is not mere force but a radiance grounded in satya (truth/keeping one’s pledge), making one’s valor ‘unassailable’ in both ethical and martial senses.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a public, witnessed movement toward a river and recalls the Khāṇḍava context, where the addressee’s great-souled, vow-true brother demonstrated extraordinary might; the addressee is likewise praised as Indra-like in valor, splendor, and arm-strength.