Shloka 29
Kṛṣṇa at Duryodhana’s House: Refusal of Hospitality and Departure to Vidura (कृष्णस्य धार्तराष्ट्रनिवेशनगमनम्)
क्षिपत्येकेन वेगेन पजच बाणशतानि य: । इष्वस्त्रे सदृशो राज्ञ: कार्तवीर्यस्य पाण्डव:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
kṣipaty ekena vegena pañca bāṇaśatāni yaḥ |
iṣv-astre sadṛśo rājñaḥ kārtavīryasya pāṇḍavaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Pāṇḍava yang dengan satu ledakan kecepatan dapat melepaskan lima ratus anak panah, dan yang dalam ilmu senjata panah disamakan dengan Raja Kārtavīrya—bagaimana keadaan Arjuna, saudaramu sekaligus sahabatmu, saat ini?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of kṣatriya excellence—mastery of weapons, disciplined power, and reliability as a protector. By measuring Arjuna against the legendary Kārtavīrya, it underscores how extraordinary capability becomes a moral and strategic responsibility in the coming conflict.
In Udyoga Parva, as war preparations intensify, the narrator reports a description of Arjuna’s unmatched archery—able to release five hundred arrows in a single rush and comparable to Kārtavīrya in missile-science—framed as an anxious inquiry about Arjuna’s present condition.