Shloka 13

आचार्य-क्षमा, देśa–kāla-नīti, तथा भेद-दोषः

Teacher-Reconciliation, Timing-Policy, and the Fault of Factionalism

Devanagari script

स त्वं कथमिहानेन शड्खशब्देन भीषित: । विवर्णरूपो वित्रस्त: पुरुष: प्राकृतो यथा,फिर यहाँ इस शंखनादसे तुम भयभीत कैसे हो गये? साधारण मनुष्योंके समान अधिक डर जानेके कारण तुम्हारे शरीरका रंग फीका कैसे पड़ गया?

Transliteration

sa tvaṁ katham ihānena śaṅkhaśabdena bhīṣitaḥ | vivarṇarūpo vitrastaḥ puruṣaḥ prākṛto yathā ||

Translation

अर्जुन बोले—फिर यहाँ इस शंखनाद से तुम कैसे भयभीत हो गए? साधारण मनुष्य की भाँति भय से व्याकुल होकर तुम्हारा रंग क्यों फीका पड़ गया और तुम काँपते-से क्यों दिखते हो?

Word by Word

सःhe/that (you)

त्वम्you

कथम्how

इहhere

अनेनby/with this

शङ्ख-शब्देनby the sound of a conch

भीषितःfrightened/terrified

विवर्ण-रूपःpale in appearance

वित्रस्तःalarmed, panic-stricken

पुरुषःa man/person

प्राकृतःordinary, common

यथाas/like

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

conch (śaṅkha)

conch-sound (śaṅkhaśabda)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical expectation of steadiness and courage in a crisis: fear that visibly overwhelms a person is portrayed as the mark of an untrained, ordinary man, implicitly urging self-control and kṣatriya-like composure in the face of martial signals.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Virāṭa episode’s war setting, a conch-blast is heard as hostilities loom. Arjuna addresses his companion, surprised that the conch-sound has made him visibly pale and shaken, questioning this sudden fearfulness.