Shloka 31
Vṛddha-kanyā-carita and Balarāma’s Kurukṣetra Inquiry (वृद्धकन्या-चरितम् / कुरुक्षेत्रफल-प्रश्नः)
तस्यास्थिभिरथो शक्र: सम्प्रहृष्टमनास्तदा । कारयामास दिव्यानि नानाप्रहरणानि च
tasyāsthibir atho śakraḥ samprahṛṣṭamanās tadā | kārayāmāsa divyāni nānāpraharāṇāni ca ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Then Śakra (Indra), his mind filled with delight, had various divine weapons fashioned from that one’s bones. The passage underscores the epic motif that extraordinary power in war is often grounded in prior sacrifice and merit, and that even the gods employ such earned potency for cosmic order.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a recurring Mahābhārata ethic: great power and protection often arise from prior sacrifice and accumulated merit. Even divine weaponry is portrayed as rooted in a morally charged source, implying that force in war is not merely technical but connected to dharma, austerity, and earned potency.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Indra (Śakra), pleased, commissions the making of many celestial weapons using the bones of a particular being previously mentioned in the surrounding context. The line functions as a brief etiological note explaining the origin of certain divine armaments.