Shloka 8
पार्थेन सृष्ट: स तु गार्ध्रपत्र आपुड्खदेशात् प्रविवेश नागम् | विदार्य शैलप्रवरं प्रकाशं यथाशनि: पर्वतमिन्द्रसृष्ट:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
pārthena sṛṣṭaḥ sa tu gārdhrapatra āpuḍkhadeśāt praviveśa nāgam |
vidārya śailapravaraṃ prakāśaṃ yathāśaniḥ parvatam indrasṛṣṭaḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。パールタ（アルジュナ）の放った、禿鷲の羽で飾られた矢は、象のこめかみのあたりから入り、羽根の根元まで深く沈み込んだ。それはまるで、インドラの金剛（雷霆）が光り輝く山の王を裂き、その心髄へと消え入ったかのようであった――抗しがたい力が、剛力の驕りにぶつかる譬えである。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the overwhelming efficacy of disciplined martial prowess: when power is guided by mastery (and not mere rage), it becomes decisive and precise—symbolized by the arrow’s clean penetration and the comparison to Indra’s vajra.
Arjuna (Pārtha) shoots a vulture-feathered arrow that pierces an elephant at the temple region, entering so deeply that even the feathers go in; the poet intensifies the scene by likening it to Indra’s thunderbolt splitting a shining mountain and vanishing into it.