Shloka 19
मārkaṇḍeya-ukta yuddha-vyūha-pratyavyūhaḥ
Battle Formations and Countermeasures in the Rāmopākhyāna
सशड्खघोष: सतलत्रघोषो गाण्डीवधन्वा मुहुरुद्वहंश्व । यदा शरानर्पयिता तवोरसि तदा मनस्ते किमिवाभविष्यत्,जब गाण्डीव धनुष धारण करनेवाले अर्जुन शंख-ध्वनिके साथ दस्तानेकी आवाज फैलाते हुए बार-बार बाण उठा-उठाकर तेरी छातीपर चोट करेंगे, उस समय तेरे मनकी दशा कैसी होगी? (इसे भी सोच ले)
saśaṅkhaghoṣaḥ satalatraghoṣo gāṇḍīvadhanvā muhur udvahan śvān | yadā śarān arpayitā tavorasi tadā manas te kim ivābhaviṣyat ||
Jayadratha said: “When Arjuna, bearer of the Gāṇḍīva, advancing with the blare of his conch and the clatter of his gear, repeatedly lifts and looses his arrows and plants them upon your chest—what, then, will your mind become? Consider that as well.”
जयद्रथ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral causality in a warrior context: reckless wrongdoing invites inevitable consequences, and fear arises when one confronts the rightful retaliation of a superior, dharma-aligned hero.
Jayadratha speaks in a taunting, cautionary tone, evoking Arjuna’s battlefield presence—conch-blast, martial clamor, and repeated volleys—to shake the opponent’s confidence and force him to imagine the terror of facing Arjuna’s arrows.