Shloka 47
कि नु मोक्ष्यामि धनुषा यन्मे बाणा: क्षयं गता: । अयं च पुरुष: को5पि बाणान् ग्रसति सर्वश:,वे मन-ही-मन सोचने लगे, “मेरे सारे बाण नष्ट हो गये, अब मैं धनुषसे क्या चलाऊँगा। यह कोई अदभुत पुरुष है, जो मेरे सारे बाणोंको खाये जा रहा है। अच्छा, अब मैं शूलके अग्रभागसे घायल किये जानेवाले हाथीकी भाँति इसे धनुषकी कोटि (नोक)-से मारकर दण्डधारी यमराजके लोकमें पहुँचा देता हूँ”
ki nu mokṣyāmi dhanuṣā yan me bāṇāḥ kṣayaṃ gatāḥ | ayaṃ ca puruṣaḥ ko 'pi bāṇān grasati sarvaśaḥ ||
The Kirāta said: “What can I now discharge from my bow, when my arrows have been exhausted? And this man—whoever he is—seems to be swallowing up all my arrows entirely.” (In context, the hunter, frustrated by the futility of his attack, turns from ordinary missile-combat toward a harsher, close-quarters intent, revealing how anger and pride can push one from measured contest into destructive resolve.)
किरयात उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how fixation on victory and wounded pride can distort judgment: when ordinary means fail, the mind tends to escalate toward harsher measures. Ethically, it warns that frustration in conflict can quickly become cruelty unless restrained by discernment (viveka) and dharma.
In the Kirāta episode of the Vana Parva, the hunter confronts a formidable opponent (contextually Arjuna in disguise/under test). Seeing his arrows prove ineffective—‘as if swallowed’—the Kirāta expresses astonishment and frustration at the opponent’s extraordinary power and resilience.