Shloka 103

Devanagari script

ततो<ग्निसदृशं घोरं शरं सर्पविषोपमम्‌ | अश्मसारमयं दिव्यमभिमन्त्रय परंतप:

Transliteration

tato 'gnisadṛśaṃ ghoraṃ śaraṃ sarpaviṣopamam | aśmasāramayaṃ divyam abhimantrya parantapaḥ |

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അപ്പോൾ ശത്രുസന്താപകനായ പരന്തപ അർജുനൻ അഗ്നിസദൃശമായ ഭീകരവും സർപ്പവിഷോപമമായ മാരകവും വജ്രസാരമായ ദൃഢവുമായ ദിവ്യശരം മന്ത്രബലത്തോടെ അഭിമന്ത്രിച്ചു. അതിൽ റൗദ്രാസ്ത്രം സംധാനം ചെയ്ത് കർണനെ ലക്ഷ്യമാക്കി വിടാൻ നിശ്ചയിച്ചു. ഹേ നരേശ്വരാ! അതേ ക്ഷണത്തിൽ ഭൂമി രാധേയൻ കർണന്റെ രഥചക്രത്തെ പിടിച്ചു വിഴുങ്ങി.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tataḥ', 'definition': 'then

• thereafter'}, {'term': 'agnisadṛśam', 'definition': 'like fire

• fire-like'}, {'term': 'ghoram', 'definition': 'terrible

• fearsome'}, {'term': 'śaram', 'definition': 'arrow'}, {'term': 'sarpaviṣopamam', 'definition': 'comparable to serpent-venom

• as deadly as snake poison'}, {'term': 'aśmasāramayam', 'definition': 'made of aśmasāra (adamantine/stone-essence

• extremely hard substance)'}, {'term': 'divyam', 'definition': 'divine

• celestial'}, {'term': 'abhimantrya', 'definition': 'having invoked (mantras) over

• having consecrated/enchanted'}, {'term': 'parantapaḥ', 'definition': 'scorcher of foes (epithet of Arjuna)'}, {'term': 'raudrāstra', 'definition': 'the Rudra/Śiva missile

• a fierce divine weapon'}, {'term': 'pṛthivī', 'definition': 'the earth (as a power/personified force)'}, {'term': 'rādhāputraḥ', 'definition': 'son of Rādhā (epithet of Karṇa)'}, {'term': 'cakra/pahiya', 'definition': 'wheel (of the chariot)'}, {'term': 'gras', 'definition': 'to seize, swallow, engulf'}]

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Arjuna
• Karṇa (Rādhāputra)
• Pṛthivī (Earth, personified)
• Śara (divine arrow)
• Raudrāstra (Rudra weapon)
• Chariot wheel

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, human prowess and even divine weapons operate within a larger moral-causal order: decisive moments can turn on forces beyond immediate control, suggesting the interplay of karma, destiny, and the ethical weight of prior actions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna prepares and empowers a terrifying divine arrow (linked with the fierce Rudra weapon) to strike Karṇa; at that critical instant, the earth grips Karṇa’s chariot wheel, immobilizing him and setting the stage for the climactic, morally fraught confrontation.