Shloka 11
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 42 — Duryodhana’s counsel to Bhīṣma on ajñātavāsa risk and raid strategy
गुरुभारसहो दिव्य: शात्रवाणां भयंकर: । कस्यायं सायको दीर्घ: शिलीपृष्ठ: शिलीमुख:
gurubhārasaho divyaḥ śātravāṇāṃ bhayaṅkaraḥ | kasyāyaṃ sāyako dīrghaḥ śilīpṛṣṭhaḥ śilīmukhaḥ ||
Uttara said: “Who owns this long missile-weapon—divine, able to bear a heavy strain, and terrifying to the enemy host—whose back bears the mark of a frog and whose tip is fashioned like a frog’s mouth?”
उत्तर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights discernment and respect for martial responsibility: a weapon’s distinctive marks and feared reputation point to its rightful owner and the ethical weight carried by those who wield divine arms.
In the Virāṭa episode, Uttara is examining stored weapons and, noticing a long, formidable, divinely described projectile with a frog emblem, asks whose weapon it is—an inquiry that foreshadows the revelation of the true warrior behind the arms.