Shloka 22
मैत्रीप्रतिज्ञा-वैरकारणप्रश्नः
Friendship Vow and Inquiry into the Cause of Enmity
इमे हि मे महावेगा पत्रिणस्तिग्मतेजसः।कार्तिकेयवनोद्भूताश्शरा हेमविभूषिताः।।कङ्कपत्रपरिच्छन्ना महेन्द्राशनिसन्निभाः।सुपर्वाणस्सुतीक्ष्णाग्रास्सरोषा भुजगा इव।।
ime hi me mahāvegāḥ patriṇas tigma-tejasaḥ | kārtikeyavanodbhūtāḥ śarā hema-vibhūṣitāḥ ||
kaṅka-patra-paricchannā mahendrāśani-sannibhāḥ | suparvāṇaḥ su-tīkṣṇāgrāḥ sa-roṣā bhujagā iva ||
Car voici mes flèches : rapides, emplumées, flamboyantes de puissance ; on dit qu’elles sont nées du roseau sacré de Kārttikeya et qu’elles sont ornées d’or. Couvertes de plumes de kaṅka, elles sont pareilles à la foudre d’Indra : bien jointes, au tranchant aigu, farouches comme des serpents en colère.
'Here are my high-speed, winged arrows glowing like fierce fire, born out of Kartikeya's bed of reeds.They are smooth and well-jointed, decked with gold, comparable in strength to great Indra's thunderbolt, very sharp with pointed tips looking like angry serpents.
FAQs
Dharma here includes kṣatriya responsibility: the righteous must possess the capability to restrain wrongdoing; moral intent is paired with effective means.
Rāma displays confidence in his weaponry while assuring Sugrīva that Vāli can be decisively overcome.
Rāma’s protective power under discipline—strength employed in service of justice, not aggression for its own sake.