Shloka 55

Kailāsa-darśana, Badarī-vāsa, and Sarasvatī–Dvaitavana Transition (कैलासदर्शन–बदरीवास–सरस्वतीद्वैतवनगमनम्)

Devanagari script

अद्रिसारमयैश्चान्यैर्बाणैरपि निबर्हणै: न्यहनं दानवानू्‌ सर्वान्‌ मुहूर्तेनेव भारत,उन सबके द्वारा गहरी मार पड़नेसे वे सारे दानव नष्ट हो गये। भारत! उस समय सूर्य और अग्निके समान तेजस्वी तथा वज्ञ और अशनिके समान प्रकाशित होनेवाले शत्रुविनाशक लोहमय बाणोंद्वारा भी मैंने दो ही घड़ीमें सम्पूर्ण दानवोंका संहार कर डाला

Transliteration

arjisna uvāca | adrisāramayaiś cānyair bāṇair api nibārhaṇaiḥ nyahanam dānavān sarvān muhūrtenaiva bhārata |

Translation

Arjuna said: “With other arrows too—hard as the essence of mountains and crushing in their impact—I struck down all those Dānavas in but a single moment, O Bhārata. And with iron arrows, enemy-destroying, blazing like the sun and fire and flashing like the thunderbolt and lightning, I brought about the complete slaughter of the Dānavas within a very short time.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'अद्रि (adri)', 'meaning': 'mountain'}, {'term': 'सार (sāra)', 'meaning': 'essence

• hardest part'}, {'term': 'मय (maya)', 'meaning': 'made of

• consisting of'}, {'term': 'बाण (bāṇa)', 'meaning': 'arrow'}, {'term': 'निबर्हण (nibarhaṇa)', 'meaning': 'crushing

• subduing'}, {'term': 'न्यहनम् (nyahanam)', 'meaning': 'I struck down

• I slew (1st person singular, past)'}, {'term': 'दानव (dānava)', 'meaning': 'Dānava

• a class of powerful anti-god beings (often ‘demons’)'}, {'term': 'सर्वान् (sarvān)', 'meaning': 'all (accusative plural masculine)'}, {'term': 'मुहूर्त (muhūrta)', 'meaning': 'a short unit of time

• a brief interval'}, {'term': 'भारत (bhārata)', 'meaning': 'O Bhārata

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira as addressee)
• Dānavas
• arrows (bāṇas)
• iron arrows

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of decisive action against destructive forces: when confronting adharma embodied by hostile beings, the warrior’s duty is to protect order through disciplined strength, not hesitation—yet the emphasis remains on duty and outcome rather than cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna narrates to Yudhiṣṭhira how he rapidly annihilated a host of Dānavas using exceptionally powerful arrows—some described as mountain-hard and others as iron, radiant like sun and fire and flashing like thunderbolt and lightning—underscoring the speed and intensity of the combat.