Shloka 63

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 96: Sātyaki’s Line-Penetration, Encirclement, and Advance toward Arjuna

Devanagari script

बधानानेन मन्त्रेण मानसेन सुरेश्वर । वधायासुरमुख्यस्य वृत्रस्य सुरघातिन:,सुरेश्वर! मेरे बताये हुए इस मन्त्रका मानसिक जप करके असुरमुख्य देवशत्रु वृत्रका वध करनेके लिये इसे अपने शरीरमें बाँध लो

Transliteration

badhānānena mantreṇa mānasena sureśvara | vadhāyāsuramukhyasya vṛtrasya suraghātinaḥ ||

Translation

Śarva dit : «Ô Seigneur des dieux, attache sur toi cette formule de protection en la récitant mentalement. Fais-le pour abattre Vṛtra, le premier des Asuras, l’ennemi des dieux, le meurtrier des dieux.»

Word by Word

बधानbind (you should bind)

अनेनwith this

मन्त्रेणby/with the mantra

मानसेनmental (in the mind)

सुरेश्वरO lord of the gods

वधायfor the slaying

असुरमुख्यस्यof the chief of the asuras

वृत्रस्यof Vṛtra

सुरघातिनःof the slayer of the gods

Speaker

शर्व उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śarva

Sureśvara (Indra)

Vṛtra

Asuras

Suras (Devas)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes disciplined inner practice: a mantra’s power is to be internalized through mental repetition and ‘bound’ as protective resolve, aligning spiritual means with a righteous objective—removing a destructive threat (Vṛtra) to restore order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śarva addresses Indra (Sureśvara), instructing him to mentally recite a specific mantra and bind it upon himself as a protective empowerment, specifically to enable the killing of Vṛtra, the leading Asura who harms the gods.