Shloka 18
Adhyāya 61: Saṃmohana-astra and the Kuru Withdrawal (संमोहनास्त्रं तथा कुरुनिवृत्तिः)
अस्यन्तं दिव्यमस्त्रं मां चित्रमद्य निशामय । शतह्नदामिवायान्तीं स्तनयित्नोरिवाम्बरे
asyantaṁ divyam astraṁ māṁ citram adya niśāmaya | śatahnadām ivāyāntīṁ stanayitnor ivāmbare ||
ヴァイシャṃパーヤナは語った。「今日、私が奇しき天の武器を放つさまを見よ。それは雷雲満つる大空に、稲妻のごとく閃き来るであろう。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the kṣatriya ideal of resolute action: when protection and righteous purpose demand it, power is to be exercised with clarity and fearlessness. The lightning-and-thundercloud imagery frames martial force as overwhelming yet ordered—an instrument to be deployed decisively, not capriciously.
In Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration, a warrior (contextually Arjuna in the Virāṭa episode) is presented as about to release a celestial missile. The poet heightens the moment through a simile: the weapon’s onset is like lightning emerging in the sky amid thunderclouds, signaling imminent, spectacular combat.