Mahabharata (Gita Press) 11.21.3 - Stree Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 3

अध्याय २१ — गान्धार्या वैकर्तनदर्शनम्

Gāndhārī’s Viewing of Vaikartana/Karṇa

Devanagari script

अमर्षी दीर्घरोषश्न महेष्वासो महाबल: । रणे विनिहत: शेते शूरो गाण्डीवधन्चना

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: amarṣī dīrgharoṣaś ca maheṣvāso mahābalaḥ | raṇe vinihataḥ śete śūro gāṇḍīvadhanvanā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : «Ce guerrier—incapable de supporter l’affront et nourrissant longtemps sa colère, grand archer et homme d’une force immense—gît maintenant sur le champ de bataille, tué au combat par le porteur du Gāṇḍīva (Arjuna).»

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Word by Word

• अमर्षी: unforbearing, intolerant
• अमर्षी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अमर्षिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दीर्घरोषः: one whose anger is long-lasting
• दीर्घरोषः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीर्घ-रोष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महेष्वासः: great archer
• महेष्वासः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा-इष्वास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महाबलः: very strong, mighty
• महाबलः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा-बल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• रणे: in battle
• रणे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रण
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• विनिहतः: slain, killed
• विनिहतः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-नि-हन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)

• शेते: lies (down), rests
• शेते: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: शी (शयने)
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Atmanepada

• शूरः: hero, brave man
• शूरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शूर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• गाण्डीवधन्वा: the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva bow (Arjuna)
• गाण्डीवधन्वा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गाण्डीव-धन्वन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Arjuna
• Gāṇḍīva
• battlefield (raṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the fragility of worldly might: even a supremely powerful archer falls. It also hints at the ethical cost of sustained anger—dīrgharoṣa—within the larger tragedy of the Kurukṣetra war, where valor does not prevent ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Stree Parva’s lamentation context, the narrator points to a fallen hero on the battlefield, describing his qualities—great strength and archery, yet marked by enduring wrath—and states that he now lies slain by the Gāṇḍīva-bearer, i.e., Arjuna.