Shloka 42
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
देवो वा यदि वा यक्षो रुद्रादन्यो व्यवस्थित: । अहमेनं शरैस्तीक्ष्णैनयामि यमसादनम्,“यदि यह रुद्रदेवसे भिन्न व्यक्ति है तो यह देवता हो या यक्ष--मैं इसे तीखे बाणोंसे मारकर अभी यमलोक भेजता हूँ
devo vā yadi vā yakṣo rudrād anyo vyavasthitaḥ | aham enaṃ śarais tīkṣṇair nayāmi yamasādanam ||
“If he is someone other than Rudra—whether a god or a yakṣa—I will strike him down with sharp arrows and send him at once to Yama’s abode.”
किरयात उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a warrior’s uncompromising resolve and the ethical tension that can arise when courage turns into rash certainty: the speaker is ready to treat any being other than Rudra as a legitimate target, revealing how pride and misrecognition in a divine encounter can escalate toward violence.
In the forest setting of the Vana Parva, the speaker issues a fierce declaration: if the figure before him is not Rudra himself—whether a god or a yakṣa—he will shoot him with sharp arrows and send him to Yama’s realm, signaling an imminent confrontation and a test of identity and power.