Shloka 27
अष्टपज्चाश तं॑ रात्र्य: शयानस्याद्य मे गता: । शरेषु निशिताग्रेषु यथा वर्षशतं तथा
aṣṭapañcāśataṁ rātryaḥ śayānasya adya me gatāḥ | śareṣu niśitāgreṣu yathā varṣaśataṁ tathā ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : « Aujourd’hui, cinquante-huit nuits se sont écoulées pour moi, tandis que je gisais sur des flèches aux pointes acérées comme des rasoirs ; et pourtant, ces jours ont passé pour moi comme s’ils avaient été cent ans. »
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how physical pain and the consequences of war can stretch subjective time, underscoring the ethical weight of violence and the need for steadfast endurance (dhairya) when one must bear the results of past actions.
A speaker reports that he has been lying on a bed of sharp arrows for fifty-eight nights, and that this period feels unbearably long—like a hundred years—conveying the intensity of his suffering in the aftermath of battle.