Shloka 18
अर्जुनस्य निवातकवचवधाय नियोगः
Arjuna’s commissioning for the Nivātakavacas
आग्नेयं वारुणं सौम्यं वायव्यमथ वैष्णवम् | ऐन्द्रं पाशुपतं ब्राह्मंं पारमेष्ठ्यं प्रजापते:
āgneyam vāruṇaṃ saumyaṃ vāyavyam atha vaiṣṇavam | aindraṃ pāśupataṃ brāhmaṃ pārameṣṭhyaṃ prajāpateḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „(Er zählte auf) die göttlichen Mächte und Waffen — die des Agni, des Varuṇa, des Soma und des Vāyu; sodann die des Viṣṇu; die des Indra; die Pāśupata (Śivas); die Brahma-Waffe; und die höchste, aus Prajāpati hervorgegangene Macht, Pārameṣṭhya.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that extraordinary power is structured within a moral cosmos: each astra is linked to a deity, implying that its use demands restraint, purity of intent, and alignment with dharma rather than personal rage or ambition.
The narrator lists a sequence of famed divine weapons/powers—Agni’s, Varuṇa’s, Soma’s, Vāyu’s, Viṣṇu’s, Indra’s, Śiva’s Pāśupata, the Brahma-weapon, and the supreme Pārameṣṭhya—indicating the breadth and hierarchy of celestial armaments known or invoked in the episode.