Shloka 7
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 42 — Duryodhana’s counsel to Bhīṣma on ajñātavāsa risk and raid strategy
विपाठा: पृथव: कस्य गार्ध्रपत्रा: शिलाशिता: । हारिद्रवर्णा: सुमुखा: पीता: सर्वायसा: शरा:
uttara uvāca | vipāṭhāḥ pṛthavaḥ kasya gārdhrapatrāḥ śilāśitāḥ | hāridravarṇāḥ sumukhāḥ pītāḥ sarvāyasāḥ śarāḥ ||
Uttara dit : «À qui sont ces flèches larges, au fût lourd—empennées de plumes de vautour et aiguisées sur la pierre ? Elles ont la teinte du curcuma, des pointes finement façonnées, paraissent dorées ; et toutes sont des flèches de fer. Pour l’usage de qui sont-elles ?»
उत्तर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights discernment and responsibility in the use of power: Uttara carefully examines the weapons and asks whose they are, implying that arms are not neutral objects but belong to a duty-bound context and a rightful wielder.
In Virāṭa’s kingdom, Uttara notices a set of distinctive, high-quality arrows—broad, stone-whetted, vulture-fletched, yellow/gilded, and made wholly of iron—and asks to whom they belong and for what purpose they are kept.