Shloka 15
वह तरुण वीर अर्जुन, जो अकेले ही रथमें बैठकर सम्पूर्ण मनुष्यों तथा देवताओंपर भी विजय पा चुका है, आज राजा विराटकी कन्याओंको नाचना सिखाता है ।। यो5तर्पयदमेयात्मा खाण्डवे जातवेदसम् | सो<न््तःपुरगतः पार्थ कूपेडग्निरिव संवृत:,कुन्तीनन्दद! जो असीम आत्मबलसे सम्पन्न है, जिसने खाण्डववनमें साक्षात् अग्निदेवको तृप्त किया था, वही वीर अर्जुन आज कुएँमें पड़ी हुई अग्निकी तरह अन्तःपुरमें छिपा हुआ है
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
sa taruṇo vīra arjunaḥ, yo ’kela eva rathasthaḥ samastān manuṣyān devāṃś ca jitavān, sa adya rājño virāṭasya kanyāḥ nṛtyaṃ śikṣayati ||
yo ’tarpayad ameyātmā khāṇḍave jātavedasam |
so ’ntaḥpuragataḥ pārthaḥ kūpe ’gnir iva saṃvṛtaḥ, kuntīnandanaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Jener junge Held Arjuna—der, allein auf seinem Wagen sitzend, alle Menschen und sogar die Götter besiegt hatte—lehrt heute die Töchter König Virāṭas den Tanz. Er, dessen Geist unermesslich ist, der im Khāṇḍava-Wald Jātavedas (Agni) sättigte—eben dieser Pārtha, Kuntīs Sohn—hält sich nun in den inneren Gemächern verborgen, wie Feuer, das in einem Brunnen eingeschlossen ist.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Great capability is not always expressed as outward dominance; dharma can require concealment, patience, and disciplined restraint. Arjuna’s hidden state illustrates strategic self-control in service of a larger righteous objective (completing the incognito vow and safeguarding the Pāṇḍavas’ future).
During the Pāṇḍavas’ year of incognito, Arjuna lives in Virāṭa’s palace in a concealed role and teaches dance to the king’s daughters. The narrator contrasts his past feats—victory over men and gods and the Khāṇḍava episode involving Agni—with his present hidden condition, likening him to fire confined in a well.