Shloka 9
विराटसभायां पाण्डवानां प्रवेशः — Arjuna’s Encomium of Yudhiṣṭhira in Virāṭa’s Court
शरप्रतप्त: स तु नागराज: प्रवेषिताड़ो व्यथितान्तरात्मा । संसीदमानो निपपात मह्ं वज्राहतं शुड्रमिवाचलस्यथ
śaraprataptaḥ sa tu nāgarājaḥ praveśitāḍyo vyathitāntarātmā | saṃsīdamāno nipapāta mahīṃ vajrāhataṃ śṛṅgam ivācalasya ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: Abrasado por las flechas, aquel señor de los elefantes—poderoso como un rey de serpientes—fue arrojado a una agonía interior. Al faltarle las fuerzas y estremecérsele el ánimo, se desplomó sobre la tierra, como una cumbre montañosa que, herida por el rayo, se desmorona y cae. La escena subraya la consecuencia implacable de la fuerza marcial: aun los grandes son abatidos cuando la violencia se enfrenta a una destreza superior.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of consequence in battle: physical might and royal stature do not protect one from collapse when struck by superior force. It also uses a vivid simile to remind the listener that even what seems immovable (a mountain peak) can fall—an ethical reflection on the fragility of power amid violence.
The narrator describes a powerful beast (called nāgarāja, ‘lord among nāgas/elephants’) being burned and tormented by arrows, becoming inwardly distressed, losing strength, and falling to the ground—compared to a mountain summit shattered by a thunderbolt.