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:,जिसके पृष्ठभागमें मेढ़कीका चित्र है और जिसका मुखभाग भी मेढ़कीके मुख-सा बना हुआ है, ऐसा यह भारी भार सहन करनेमें समर्थ, दिव्य और शत्रुमण्डलीके लिये भयंकर विशाल खड़्ग किसका है?
gurubhārasaho divyaḥ śātravāṇāṃ bhayaṅkaraḥ | kasyāyaṃ sāyako dīrghaḥ śilīpṛṣṭhaḥ śilīmukhaḥ ||
Uttara dijo: «¿Quién es dueño de esta larga arma arrojadiza—divina, capaz de soportar una gran tensión y terrible para las huestes enemigas—cuyo lomo lleva la marca de una rana y cuya punta está forjada como la boca de una rana?»
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.