Shloka 156

Devanagari script

देवैरपि सुदुर्धर्षमस्त्रमाग्नेयमाददे । उस समय द्रोणपुत्रको अर्जुन और श्रीकृष्णपर अधिक क्रोध हुआ, उस पराक्रमी वीरने सावधानीके साथ रथपर खड़ा हो आचमन करके आग्नेयास्त्र हाथमें लिया, जो देवताओंके लिये भी अत्यन्त दुर्जय था

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | devair api sudurdharṣam astram āgneyam ādade |

Translation

ສັນຊະຍະ ກ່າວວ່າ: ລາວໄດ້ຢືດເອົາອາວຸດອັກເນຍະ—ອາວຸດໄຟທິບທີ່ຕ້ານທານຍາກຢ່າງຍິ່ງ ຈົນແມ່ນເທວະດາກໍຍັງເກືອບຈະບໍ່ອາດພິຊິດໄດ້. ໃນຄວາມຮ້ອນແຮງຂອງສົງຄາມ ເມື່ອຄວາມໂກດຕໍ່ອາຣຊຸນ ແລະ ພຣະກຣິດສະນະ ເພີ່ມພູນຂຶ້ນ ບຸດຂອງດໂຣນະໄດ້ຢືນໝັ້ນຢູ່ເທິງລົດຮົບ ປະກອບພິທີ ācamana (ຈິບນ້ຳຊຳລະ) ຢ່າງລະມັດລະວັງ ແລ້ວຈຶ່ງຈັບອາວຸດໄຟອັນນ່າຢ້ານນັ້ນ—ເປັນລາງບອກວ່າສົງຄາມກຳລັງຖືກຍົກລະດັບຢ່າງຫນັກ ແລະຄວາມໂກດອາດຈະກົດທັບການຍັບຍັ້ງກັບທຳມະໃນສົງຄາມ.

Word by Word

देवैःby the gods

अपिeven/also

सुदुर्धर्षम्very hard to assail/overcome

अस्त्रम्weapon (missile)

आग्नेयम्fiery; belonging to Agni

आददेtook up/assumed

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Agneya-astra

Devas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger can drive a warrior toward extreme, potentially adharma-laden escalation—invoking devastating divine weapons. The mention of ritual care (ācamana) contrasts outer discipline with inner fury, implying that true restraint is ethical, not merely procedural.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports that Drona’s son (Aśvatthāmā, in context) prepares to deploy the Agneya-astra, a fire-based celestial weapon said to be nearly irresistible even to the gods, marking a dangerous intensification of the conflict against Arjuna and Krishna.