Shloka 131

द्रोणपर्व — अध्याय ९०: हार्दिक्यस्य पराक्रमः

Kṛtavarmā’s Stand against the Pāṇḍavas

Devanagari script

अद्य गाण्डीवधन्वानं तपन्तं युद्धदुर्मदम्‌ । अहमावारयिष्यामि वेलेव मकरालयम्‌

Transliteration

adya gāṇḍīvadhanvānaṃ tapantaṃ yuddhadurmadam | aham āvārayiṣyāmi veleva makarālayam ||

Translation

「今日こそ、ガーンディーヴァを執るアルジュナ—戦の猛き驕りに燃える者—を、われは食い止めよう。マカラの住まう大海を岸が押しとどめるように、彼を押し返してみせる。」

Word by Word

• अद्य: today/now
• अद्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य
• Form: indeclinable (temporal adverb)

• गाण्डीवधन्वानम्: the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva bow (Arjuna)
• गाण्डीवधन्वानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गाण्डीवधन्वन्
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• तपन्तम्: burning/tormenting
• तपन्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: तप्
• Form: present active participle, masculine accusative singular

• युद्धदुर्मदम्: whose battle-pride is fierce; maddened by war
• युद्धदुर्मदम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युद्धदुर्मद
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: common (pronoun), nominative, singular

• आवारयिष्यामि: will restrain/ward off/stop
• आवारयिष्यामि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृ (आ + वृ)
• Form: simple future (luṭ), parasmaipada, 1st person, singular

• वेलेव: like the shore/limit (as if a shoreline)
• वेलेव: Karana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वेला + इव
• Form: वेला (feminine nominative singular) used in simile + इव (indeclinable)

• मकरालयम्: the abode of makaras (the sea/ocean)
• मकरालयम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मकरालय
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• गाण्डीव (Gāṇḍīva)
• अर्जुन (Arjuna, implied by 'Gāṇḍīva-dhanvan')
• मकरालय (the ocean/sea)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the warrior ethos of confronting overwhelming force with resolve, while also implying an ethical ideal of restraint: even in war, power and fury must be met with boundaries—like the shore that contains the sea.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a bold declaration: someone vows to stop Arjuna, famed as the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva, who is described as blazing with battle-fervor. The simile compares restraining Arjuna to the shore restraining the ocean.