Shloka 42
वीरवर! वह शक्ति अर्जुनके लिये मृत्युस्वरूप है, इस चिन्तामें निरन्तर डूबे रहनेके कारण न तो मुझे नींद आती थी और न मेरे मनमें कभी हर्षका उदय होता था ।। घटोत्कचे व्यंसितां तु दृष्टवा तां शिनिपुड्रव । मृत्योरास्यान्तरान्मुक्तं पश्याम्यद्य धनंजयम्,शिनिवंशशिरोमणे! वह शक्ति घटोत्कचपर छोड़ दी गयी, यह देखकर आज मैं यह समझता हूँ कि अर्जुन मौतके मुखसे निकल आये हैं
vīravara! sā śaktiḥ arjunāya mṛtyusvarūpā; etāṃ cintāṃ nirantaraṃ nimagnatvāt na me nidrā bhavati sma, na ca manasi kadācit harṣodayaḥ. ghaṭotkace vyaṃsitāṃ tu dṛṣṭvā tāṃ śinipuṅgava, mṛtyor āsyāntarān muktaṃ paśyāmy adya dhanañjayam, śinivaṃśaśiromaṇe!
O best of heroes! That divine missile was like death itself for Arjuna. Because I remained continually sunk in that anxiety, sleep would not come to me, nor did joy ever arise in my heart. But now, O bull among the Śinis—seeing that very weapon discharged upon Ghaṭotkaca—I understand today that Dhanañjaya has been released from the very mouth of death, O crest-jewel of the Śini line.
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in righteous struggle, fear and uncertainty arise; yet outcomes can turn through unforeseen shifts. The verse highlights the ethical tension of war—deadly power exists, but relief comes when that power is diverted away from the one whose survival is crucial for the larger dharmic outcome.
Vāyudeva says he had been constantly worried because the deadly śakti weapon threatened Arjuna. When he sees that weapon instead discharged upon Ghaṭotkaca, he concludes that Arjuna has escaped imminent death, and he expresses relief to a foremost member of the Śini line.