Mahabharata 3.39.48 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 39, Shloka 48
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
हत्वा चैनं धनुष्कोट्या शूलाग्रेणेव कुज्जरम् । नयामि दण्डधारस्य यमस्य सदन प्रति
hatvā cainaṁ dhanuṣkoṭyā śūlāgreṇeva kuñjaram | nayāmi daṇḍadhārasya yamasya sadanaṁ prati ||
キラータは言った。「弓の先で彼を打ち倒し、槍の穂先に傷つけられた象のように殺して、杖を執るヤマの住処へ送り込んでやる。」この言葉は、狩人が勝負を断ち切ろうとする凄烈な決意を示し、死を私怨の報復ではなく、ヤマの権威のもとに下る報いとして描いている。
किरयात उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how violent intent is rhetorically justified by invoking cosmic justice: the speaker frames killing as delivering the opponent to Yama’s domain, suggesting that death is not merely personal triumph but an act placed under the larger order of punishment and judgment.
The Kīrāta, angered and determined, declares he will kill his opponent by striking with the bow’s tip, comparing the blow to a spear-point wounding an elephant, and says he will send the foe to Yama’s abode.
Ask anything about this verse
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.