Shloka 31

Devanagari script

शरान्‌ नानाविधान्‌ मुक्‍्त्वा त्रासयिष्यामि शात्रवान्‌ | आकर्णममुक्तैरिषुभिययमराष्ट्रविवर्धनी:

Transliteration

śarān nānāvidhān muktvā trāsayiṣyāmi śātravān | ākarṇam amuktair iṣubhir yayama-rāṣṭra-vivardhanī ||

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: «Disparando flechas de muchas clases, sembraré el terror en las huestes enemigas. Con saetas tensadas hasta la oreja y soltadas en rápida sucesión, así habló la princesa de la estirpe de Yadu (Satyabhāmā), y sus palabras acrecentaron la determinación de los suyos».

Word by Word

• {'śarān': 'arrows (accusative plural)', 'nānā-vidhān': 'of many kinds, variously fashioned', 'muktvā': 'having released, discharging', 'trāsayiṣyāmi': 'I shall frighten/terrorize (future, 1st person singular)', 'śātravān': 'enemies, hostile warriors (accusative plural)', 'ākarṇam': 'up to the ear

• fully drawn (of a bowstring)', 'amuktaiḥ': 'with unreleased/undischarged (i.e., ready, continuously drawn) (instrumental plural)', 'iṣubhiḥ': 'with arrows (instrumental plural)', 'yadu-ma-rāṣṭra-vivardhanī': 'the increaser of the Yadu lineage/realm

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• arrows (śara, iṣu)
• enemies (śātravāḥ)
• Yadu lineage/realm (Yadu-rāṣṭra)
• Yadu princess (yadu-ma-rāṣṭra-vivardhanī; Satyabhāmā by epithet)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the kṣatriya-war ethos: mastery of weapons and unwavering resolve are presented as instruments to break the enemy’s morale. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between duty in battle and the destructive consequences of intimidation and violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a boastful martial declaration: the speaker intends to unleash varied arrows and terrify the opposing warriors, shooting with fully drawn bow (ākarṇam). The closing epithet points to a Yādava princess (commonly understood as Satyabhāmā) whose words are described as strengthening her side’s cause.