Kurukṣetra-sainyadarśana and Arjuna-viṣāda (धर्मक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः — अर्जुनविषाद)
कात्यायनि महाभागे करालि विजये जये । शिखिपिच्छध्वजधरे नानाभरणभूषिते
arjuna uvāca | kātyāyani mahābhāge karāli vijaye jaye | śikhipicchadhvajadhare nānābharaṇabhūṣite ||
അർജുനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ കാത്യായനി, ഹേ മഹാഭാഗേ! ഹേ കരാളി! ഹേ വിജയേ, ഹേ ജയേ! മയില്പീലി-ചിഹ്നധ്വജം ധരിക്കുന്നവളേ, നാനാവിധ ആഭരണങ്ങളാൽ അലങ്കൃതയായ ദേവീ! നിനക്കു പ്രണാമം.
अजुन उवाच
Before entering a morally weighty conflict, the warrior seeks alignment with dharma through devotion: acknowledging divine power as both gentle and fearsome, and requesting protection and victory without losing ethical grounding.
Arjuna addresses the Goddess with a series of epithets—Kātyāyanī, Karālī (Kālī), Vijayā, Jayā—praising her as the bearer of a peacock-feather banner and richly adorned, as part of an invocation for support in the impending battle.