Shloka 19
अर्जुन-माहात्म्य-चिन्ता
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Appraisal of Arjuna’s Strategic Supremacy
यदोद्वमन् निशितान् बाणसंघां- स्तानाततायी समरे किरीटी । सृष्टोडन्तकः सर्वहरो विधात्रा यथा भवेत् तद्भधदपारणीय:
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | yadodvaman niśitān bāṇasaṅghāṁs tān ātatāyī samare kirīṭī | sṛṣṭo ’ntakaḥ sarvaharo vidhātrā yathā bhavet tad-badhaḥ apāraṇīyaḥ ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : «Quand Arjuna, le front ceint du diadème, l’arme à la main, dans la fureur du combat, déversera des volées de flèches acérées comme des rasoirs, alors lui résister sera impossible — tout comme nul ne peut échapper au Temps (à la Mort) qui détruit tout, façonné par le Créateur, l’universel ravisseur.»
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability and overwhelming force of divinely-ordained outcomes: when a warrior like Arjuna is fully unleashed in righteous battle, resisting him is likened to resisting Time/Death itself—highlighting human limitation before fate and the destructive certainty of war.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, anxious about the coming conflict, imagines Arjuna in battle releasing dense volleys of sharp arrows. He concludes that opposing Arjuna at that moment would be insurmountable, comparing Arjuna’s onslaught to the Creator’s all-destroying Death.