Shloka 5
Vyāsa’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira: Pratismṛti-vidyā, Arjuna’s Aśtra-Quest, and the Move to Kāmyaka
दैवं बाह्यें मानुषं च सयत्नं सचिकित्सितम् । सर्वस्त्राणां प्रयोगं च अभिजानन्ति कृत्स्नश:,वे दैव, ब्राह्म और मानुष तीनों पद्धतियोंके अनुसार सम्पूर्ण अस्त्रोंके प्रयोगकी सारी कलाएँ जानते हैं। उन अस्त्रोंके ग्रहण और धारणरूप प्रयत्नसे तो वे परिचित हैं ही, शत्रुओंद्वारा प्रयुक्त हुए अस्त्रोंकी चिकित्सा (निवारणके उपाय)-को भी जानते हैं
daivaṃ bāhye mānuṣaṃ ca sayatnaṃ sacikitsitam | sarvāstrāṇāṃ prayogaṃ ca abhijānanti kṛtsnaśaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “They fully understand the application of every weapon—whether its power is deemed divine, external, or human. They know not only the disciplined effort involved in taking up and bearing those arms, but also the ‘treatment’—the countermeasures and remedies—by which weapons hurled by enemies are neutralized.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mastery is not merely offensive skill: true competence includes disciplined practice, correct handling, and ethical responsibility to protect—especially through knowing how to neutralize harm (the ‘cikitsā’ of weapons) rather than only inflict it.
Yudhiṣṭhira is describing the comprehensive martial expertise of certain warriors: they know every category of weapon-power (divine, external, and human), how to wield and bear arms through effort, and how to counter enemy weapons through appropriate defensive measures.