Shloka 9
विराटसभायां पाण्डवानां प्रवेशः — Arjuna’s Encomium of Yudhiṣṭhira in Virāṭa’s Court
शरप्रतप्त: स तु नागराज: प्रवेषिताड़ो व्यथितान्तरात्मा । संसीदमानो निपपात मह्ं वज्राहतं शुड्रमिवाचलस्यथ
śaraprataptaḥ sa tu nāgarājaḥ praveśitāḍyo vyathitāntarātmā | saṃsīdamāno nipapāta mahīṃ vajrāhataṃ śṛṅgam ivācalasya ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Von den Pfeilen versengt, geriet jener Herr der Elefanten—an Macht einem Nāga-König gleich—in innerste Qual. Als seine Kraft versagte und sein Geist erschüttert wurde, stürzte er zur Erde, wie ein Berggipfel, den der Blitz trifft und der zerbröckelnd hinabfällt. Die Szene zeigt die harte Folge kriegerischer Gewalt: Selbst die Mächtigen werden niedergeworfen, wenn Gewalt auf überlegene Kunst trifft.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of consequence in battle: physical might and royal stature do not protect one from collapse when struck by superior force. It also uses a vivid simile to remind the listener that even what seems immovable (a mountain peak) can fall—an ethical reflection on the fragility of power amid violence.
The narrator describes a powerful beast (called nāgarāja, ‘lord among nāgas/elephants’) being burned and tormented by arrows, becoming inwardly distressed, losing strength, and falling to the ground—compared to a mountain summit shattered by a thunderbolt.