Shloka 9
विराटसभायां पाण्डवानां प्रवेशः — Arjuna’s Encomium of Yudhiṣṭhira in Virāṭa’s Court
शरप्रतप्त: स तु नागराज: प्रवेषिताड़ो व्यथितान्तरात्मा । संसीदमानो निपपात मह्ं वज्राहतं शुड्रमिवाचलस्यथ
śaraprataptaḥ sa tu nāgarājaḥ praveśitāḍyo vyathitāntarātmā | saṃsīdamāno nipapāta mahīṃ vajrāhataṃ śṛṅgam ivācalasya ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : Brûlé par les flèches, ce seigneur des éléphants—puissant comme un roi des nāga—fut saisi d’une douleur jusque dans l’âme. Ses forces défaillant, l’esprit ébranlé, il s’effondra sur la terre, tel un sommet de montagne frappé par la foudre qui se disloque et s’abat. La scène souligne la dure conséquence de la puissance guerrière : même les plus grands sont rabaissés lorsque la violence rencontre une adresse supérieure.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of consequence in battle: physical might and royal stature do not protect one from collapse when struck by superior force. It also uses a vivid simile to remind the listener that even what seems immovable (a mountain peak) can fall—an ethical reflection on the fragility of power amid violence.
The narrator describes a powerful beast (called nāgarāja, ‘lord among nāgas/elephants’) being burned and tormented by arrows, becoming inwardly distressed, losing strength, and falling to the ground—compared to a mountain summit shattered by a thunderbolt.