Shloka 48
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
हत्वा चैनं धनुष्कोट्या शूलाग्रेणेव कुज्जरम् । नयामि दण्डधारस्य यमस्य सदन प्रति,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”
hatvā cainaṁ dhanuṣkoṭyā śūlāgreṇeva kuñjaram | nayāmi daṇḍadhārasya yamasya sadanaṁ prati ||
Kīrāta said: “Having struck and slain him with the tip of my bow—like an elephant wounded by the point of a spear—I shall send him to the abode of Yama, the wielder of the staff.” The utterance conveys the hunter’s fierce resolve to end the encounter decisively, framing death as a moral consequence administered under Yama’s authority rather than as mere personal vengeance.
किरयात उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how violent intent is rhetorically justified by invoking cosmic justice: the speaker frames killing as delivering the opponent to Yama’s domain, suggesting that death is not merely personal triumph but an act placed under the larger order of punishment and judgment.
The Kīrāta, angered and determined, declares he will kill his opponent by striking with the bow’s tip, comparing the blow to a spear-point wounding an elephant, and says he will send the foe to Yama’s abode.