Shloka 15
Kṛṣṇopadeśa and Duryodhana’s Challenge
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 77
शरवेगसमुत्कृत्तै राज्ञां केशव मूर्थभि: । आस्तीर्यमाणां पृथिवीं द्रष्टासि श्वो मया युधि,केशव! कलके युद्धमें आप देखेंगे कि इस पृथ्वीपर मेरे बाणोंके वेगसे कटे हुए राजाओंके मस्तक बिछ गये हैं
arjunа uvāca | śaravega-samutkṛttai rājñāṁ keśava mūrdhabhiḥ | āstīryamāṇāṁ pṛthivīṁ draṣṭāsi śvo mayā yudhi, keśava ||
Arjuna said: “O Keśava, tomorrow on the battlefield you will see the earth strewn with the severed heads of kings, cut down by the speed and force of my arrows.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fierce kṣatriya ethos of the epic: martial resolve and the grim cost of war. It also frames Arjuna’s confidence before Kṛṣṇa, implying accountability before a trusted charioteer-witness even while speaking of extreme violence.
Arjuna addresses Kṛṣṇa (Keśava), declaring that on the next day of fighting Kṛṣṇa will witness the battlefield covered with the heads of kings felled by Arjuna’s swift arrows—an intense boast/pledge of impending slaughter.