Shloka 12

Devanagari script

योअर्र्जुनेनार्जुनस्तुल्यो द्विबाहुर्बहुबाहुना । तमृते पाण्डवश्रेष्ठ वन॑ न प्रतिभाति मे,'पाण्डवश्रेष्ठ] जो दो भुजावाले अर्जुन सहस्रबाहु अर्जुनके समान पराक्रमी हैं, उनके बिना यह वन मुझे अच्छा नहीं लगता

Transliteration

yo 'rjunena arjunas tulyo dvibāhur bahubāhunā | tam ṛte pāṇḍavaśreṣṭha vanaṁ na pratibhāti me ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of the Pāṇḍavas, this forest does not please me without him—Arjuna of two arms—who is equal in prowess to the many-armed Arjuna (Sahasrabāhu).”

Word by Word

यःwho

अर्जुनेनby/with Arjuna

अर्जुनःArjuna

तुल्यःequal, comparable

द्विबाहुःtwo-armed

बहुबाहुनाby/with the many-armed one (Sahasrabahu Arjuna)

तम्him

ऋतेwithout, except

पाण्डवश्रेष्ठO best of the Pandavas

वनम्the forest

नnot

प्रतिभातिappears, seems

मेto me

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Arjuna (Pāṇḍava, dvibāhu)

Arjuna Sahasrabāhu (bahubāhu)

Pāṇḍava (addressed as ‘best of the Pāṇḍavas’)

Forest (vana)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how true excellence is recognized through comparison with legendary standards, and how the absence of a virtuous, capable companion can drain even a beautiful setting of its value—suggesting that character and fellowship shape one’s experience more than place.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana remarks that the forest feels joyless without Arjuna, praising him as a two-armed hero whose prowess matches that of the famed many-armed Sahasrabāhu Arjuna, thereby emphasizing Arjuna’s importance to the Pāṇḍavas during their forest life.