Shloka 15
Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 19 — Saṃśaptaka–Trigarta Assault and Aindra-astra Counter
मुष्टिश्लिष्टायतज्यं च व्यायताभ्यां महद् धनु: । दोर्भ्या विस्फारयन् भासि महाजलदवद् भशम्,“तुम्हारे धनुषकी प्रत्यंचा एक ही समय तुम्हारी मुद्ठीमें सटी हुई तथा गोलाकार फैली हुई दिखायी देती है। जब तुम अपनी दोनों बड़ी-बड़ी भुजाओंसे विशाल धनुषको खींचने और उसकी टंकार करने लगते हो, उस समय महान् मेघके समान तुम्हारी बड़ी शोभा होती है
muṣṭiśliṣṭāyatajyāṃ ca vyāyatābhyāṃ mahad dhanuḥ | dorbhyāṃ visphārayan bhāsi mahājaladavad bhṛśam ||
Sañjaya said: “The bowstring appears at once pressed close within your fist and yet stretched out in a wide arc. When, with your two mighty arms, you draw and make the great bow resound, you shine with intense splendor—like a vast rain-cloud.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how disciplined strength and mastery of one’s weapon can appear as awe-inspiring beauty; in the epic’s ethical frame, such power is morally weighty and must be governed by dharma, since splendor in battle is not itself a guarantee of righteousness.
Sañjaya vividly describes a warrior’s archery: the bowstring seems simultaneously gripped in the fist and stretched in a curve, and as the warrior draws and makes the great bow thunder, his presence becomes formidable and radiant like a massive rain-cloud.