Shloka 11
विराटसभायां पाण्डवानां प्रवेशः — Arjuna’s Encomium of Yudhiṣṭhira in Virāṭa’s Court
निहत्य नागं तु शरेण तेन वज्रोपमेनाद्रिवराम्बुदा भम् । तथाविधेनैव शरेण पार्थो दुर्योधनं वक्षसि निर्बिभेद
nihatya nāgaṃ tu śareṇa tena vajropamenādrivarāmbudābham | tathāvidhenaiva śareṇa pārtho duryodhanaṃ vakṣasi nirbibheda ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Having slain the great elephant with that arrow—hard as a thunderbolt and seeming like a mountain and a massed rain-cloud—Pārtha then, with another arrow of the same kind, pierced Duryodhana in the chest. The scene underscores the relentless momentum of battle: prowess and resolve drive the action, while the ethical tension of violence and its consequences remains implicit beneath the heroic narration.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the force and inevitability of martial action once battle is joined: skill and resolve can be decisive, yet the narration also invites reflection on the ethical weight of violence and the chain of consequences it sets in motion.
After killing a powerful elephant with a thunderbolt-like arrow, Arjuna (Pārtha) immediately follows with a similar arrow and strikes Duryodhana, piercing him in the chest, as described by the narrator Vaiśampāyana.