Shloka 17

Kṛṣṇa-vīrya-kathana

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s appraisal of Vāsudeva’s deeds

Devanagari script

चापविद्युत्प्रभो घोरो रथगुल्मबलाहक: । स नेमिघोषस्तनित: शरशब्दातिबन्धुर:

Transliteration

cāpavidyutprabho ghoro rathagulmabalāhakaḥ | sa nemighoṣastanitaḥ śaraśabdātibandhuraḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : Terrible à voir, cela brillait comme l’éclair jailli de l’arc ; cela s’élevait tel un amas de nuées fait de chars et d’escadrons. Son rugissement était le tonnerre des roues, et il était serré, tissé du son âpre des flèches—image de la force écrasante de la guerre, où l’art martial et la puissance des masses éclipsent les devoirs plus doux et poussent tous les êtres vers le péril et l’épreuve morale.

Word by Word

चापविद्युत्प्रभःhaving the radiance of lightning from a bow

घोरःterrible, dreadful

रथगुल्मबलाहकःwhose cloud-mass is a thicket of chariots (i.e., like a cloud formed of chariot-formations)

सःhe, that (one)

नेमिघोषस्तनितःwhose thunder is the sound of wheel-rims (nemi)

शरशब्दातिबन्धुरःexceedingly dense/filled with the sound of arrows

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

bow (cāpa)

arrows (śara)

chariots (ratha)

wheels (nemi)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the overwhelming, impersonal momentum of war: massed formations, flashing weapons, and deafening noise create a force that tests dharma under pressure. It implicitly warns that in such conditions ethical clarity is hard-won, and duty (especially kṣatriya-duty) becomes a severe trial rather than a simple ideal.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes the battlefield scene as a terrifying, cloud-like mass of chariots and troops. The wheels roar like thunder, and the air is densely filled with the sound of arrows—an intensified depiction of combat’s scale and ferocity.