Shloka 2

भीष्मद्रोणयोर्दुर्योधनं प्रति शमोपदेशः | Bhīṣma and Droṇa’s Counsel of Conciliation to Duryodhana

Devanagari script

अथान्तरिक्षे वागासीद्‌ दिव्यरूपा मनोरमा । सहस्राक्षसम: कुन्ति भविष्यत्येष ते सुत:

Transliteration

athāntarikṣe vāg āsīd divyarūpā manoramā | sahasrākṣasamaḥ kunti bhaviṣyaty eṣa te sutaḥ ||

Translation

Then, from the sky, a lovely voice of divine form was heard: “O Kuntī, this son of yours will be equal to Sahasrākṣa (Indra).” The utterance serves as a prophetic assurance of the child’s destined prowess, grounding later expectations of heroic duty and the moral weight of the coming conflict.

Word by Word

• {'atha': 'then

• thereafter', 'antari(k)ṣe (antarikṣe)': 'in the mid-air

• in the sky', 'vāk': 'voice

• utterance', 'āsīt': 'was

• occurred', 'divya-rūpā': 'of divine form

• celestial in appearance', 'manoramā': 'charming

• delightful', 'sahasra-akṣa': 'the thousand-eyed one

• Indra', 'samaḥ': 'equal to

• comparable with', 'kunti (kuntī)': 'O Kuntī (vocative address)', 'bhaviṣyati': 'will be

• will become', 'eṣaḥ': 'this (one)', 'te': 'your', 'sutaḥ': 'son'}

Speaker

पुत्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kuntī
• Indra (Sahasrākṣa)
• divine voice (ākāśavāṇī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A divine prophecy affirms that extraordinary capability can be part of one’s destined role; such assurance increases responsibility—power is not merely personal glory but a charge to uphold dharma when the crisis arrives.

What is happening in the narrative?

A celestial voice addresses Kuntī, predicting that her son will be equal to Indra in prowess. In context, this recollection supports Kuntī’s encouragement and frames the son’s future heroism as divinely anticipated.