Shloka 9
विराटसभायां पाण्डवानां प्रवेशः — Arjuna’s Encomium of Yudhiṣṭhira in Virāṭa’s Court
शरप्रतप्त: स तु नागराज: प्रवेषिताड़ो व्यथितान्तरात्मा । संसीदमानो निपपात मह्ं वज्राहतं शुड्रमिवाचलस्यथ
śaraprataptaḥ sa tu nāgarājaḥ praveśitāḍyo vyathitāntarātmā | saṃsīdamāno nipapāta mahīṃ vajrāhataṃ śṛṅgam ivācalasya ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。矢に灼かれた象の王は、威勢においてはナーガ王にも比すべく、胸奥より苦悶に沈んだ。力は尽き、魂は揺らぎ、ついに大地へ崩れ落ちた。あたかも雷霆に撃たれた山の峰が砕けて落ちるがごとくである。この場面は、武の力の冷厳な帰結を示す――いかに強大であろうとも、より勝れた技に対しては屈せざるを得ない。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of consequence in battle: physical might and royal stature do not protect one from collapse when struck by superior force. It also uses a vivid simile to remind the listener that even what seems immovable (a mountain peak) can fall—an ethical reflection on the fragility of power amid violence.
The narrator describes a powerful beast (called nāgarāja, ‘lord among nāgas/elephants’) being burned and tormented by arrows, becoming inwardly distressed, losing strength, and falling to the ground—compared to a mountain summit shattered by a thunderbolt.