Shloka 21

Droṇa’s Conditional Boon: The Plan to Capture Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रोणेन युधिष्ठिरग्रहणोपायः)

Devanagari script

इसी प्रकार हृषीकेशने पाताल-निवासी पंचजन नामक दैत्यको युद्धमें मारकर दिव्य पाज्चजन्य शंख प्राप्त किया ।। खाण्डवे पार्थसहितस्तोषयित्वा हुताशनम्‌ । आग्नेयमस्त्रं दुर्धर्ष चक्र लेभे महाबल:,खाण्डव वनमें अर्जुनके साथ अग्निदेवको संतुष्ट करके महाबली श्रीकृष्णने दुर्धर्ष आग्नेय अस्त्र चक्रको प्राप्त किया था

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

khāṇḍave pārthasahitastōṣayitvā hutāśanam |

āgneyam astram durdharṣaṃ cakra lebhe mahābalaḥ ||

iti prakāraṃ hṛṣīkeśena pātāla-nivāsī pañcajana-nāmā daityo yuddhe hataḥ, divyaḥ pāñcajanya-śaṅkhaś ca prāptaḥ |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : « Dans la forêt de Khāṇḍava, le puissant Hṛṣīkeśa (Kṛṣṇa), avec Pārtha (Arjuna), satisfit le dieu du Feu. Ayant comblé Agni, il obtint la redoutable arme Agneya sous la forme du disque. De même, auparavant, il avait tué au combat le démon du monde souterrain nommé Pañcajana et avait ainsi acquis la conque divine appelée Pāñcajanya. » Le passage souligne que les armes et emblèmes divins ne sont pas des parures de guerre : ils se gagnent par des actes décisifs accordés à l’ordre cosmique, pour protéger le monde et soutenir les alliés du dharma.

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'khāṇḍave': 'in the Khāṇḍava (forest)', 'pārtha-sahitaḥ': 'together with Pārtha (Arjuna)', 'toṣayitvā': 'having pleased, having satisfied', 'hutāśanam': "the Fire-god (Agni), literally 'eater of oblations'", 'āgneyam astram': 'the Agneya weapon (fire-related divine missile/weapon)', 'durdharṣam': 'hard to assail, formidable, irresistible', 'cakram': 'discus (cakra), a wheel-like weapon', 'lebhe': 'obtained, received', 'mahābalaḥ': 'of great strength, mighty', 'hṛṣīkeśa': "Hṛṣīkeśa, epithet of Kṛṣṇa ('lord of the senses')", 'pātāla-nivāsī': 'dwelling in Pātāla (the netherworld)', 'pañcajana-nāmā': 'named Pañcajana', 'daityaḥ': 'a Daitya (demonic being, enemy of the gods)', 'yuddhe hataḥ': 'slain in battle', 'divyaḥ': 'divine, celestial', 'pāñcajanya-śaṅkhaḥ': 'the conch named Pāñcajanya'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Hṛṣīkeśa (Kṛṣṇa)
• Pārtha (Arjuna)
• Khāṇḍava forest
• Hutāśana (Agni)
• Agneya astra
• Cakra (discus)
• Pātāla
• Pañcajana (Daitya)
• Pāñcajanya (conch)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Power and sacred authority are portrayed as earned through actions that uphold cosmic balance—serving rightful allies, restraining destructive forces, and aligning with divine purpose—rather than through mere possession or status.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana recalls how Kṛṣṇa, alongside Arjuna, satisfied Agni in the Khāṇḍava forest and received a formidable fire-associated weapon in the form of a discus; he also notes Kṛṣṇa’s earlier slaying of the Daitya Pañcajana in Pātāla, by which Kṛṣṇa obtained the divine conch Pāñcajanya.