Mahabharata 3.174.55 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 174, Shloka 55

Kailāsa-darśana, Badarī-vāsa, and Sarasvatī–Dvaitavana Transition (कैलासदर्शन–बदरीवास–सरस्वतीद्वैतवनगमनम्)

Devanagari script

अद्रिसारमयैश्चान्यैर्बाणैरपि निबर्हणै: न्यहनं दानवानू्‌ सर्वान्‌ मुहूर्तेनेव भारत

Transliteration

arjisna uvāca | adrisāramayaiś cānyair bāṇair api nibārhaṇaiḥ nyahanam dānavān sarvān muhūrtenaiva bhārata |

Translation

അർജുനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—പർവതസാരത്തെപ്പോലെ കഠിനവും പ്രഹാരത്തിൽ ചതച്ചുകളയുന്നതുമായ മറ്റു ബാണങ്ങളാലും, ഹേ ഭാരതാ, ഞാൻ ആ ദാനവരെല്ലാം ഒരു മുഹൂർത്തത്തിനുള്ളിൽ തന്നെ വീഴ്ത്തി. പിന്നെ സൂര്യനും അഗ്നിയും പോലെ ദീപ്തവും, വജ്രവും മിന്നലും പോലെ പ്രകാശിക്കുന്ന ശത്രുനാശകമായ ഇരുമ്പുബാണങ്ങളാൽ അത്യൽപസമയത്തിൽ ദാനവരുടെ സമ്പൂർണ്ണസംഹാരം വരുത്തി.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'अद्रि (adri)', 'meaning': 'mountain'}, {'term': 'सार (sāra)', 'meaning': 'essence

• hardest part'}, {'term': 'मय (maya)', 'meaning': 'made of

• consisting of'}, {'term': 'बाण (bāṇa)', 'meaning': 'arrow'}, {'term': 'निबर्हण (nibarhaṇa)', 'meaning': 'crushing

• subduing'}, {'term': 'न्यहनम् (nyahanam)', 'meaning': 'I struck down

• I slew (1st person singular, past)'}, {'term': 'दानव (dānava)', 'meaning': 'Dānava

• a class of powerful anti-god beings (often ‘demons’)'}, {'term': 'सर्वान् (sarvān)', 'meaning': 'all (accusative plural masculine)'}, {'term': 'मुहूर्त (muhūrta)', 'meaning': 'a short unit of time

• a brief interval'}, {'term': 'भारत (bhārata)', 'meaning': 'O Bhārata

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira as addressee)
• Dānavas
• arrows (bāṇas)
• iron arrows

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of decisive action against destructive forces: when confronting adharma embodied by hostile beings, the warrior’s duty is to protect order through disciplined strength, not hesitation—yet the emphasis remains on duty and outcome rather than cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna narrates to Yudhiṣṭhira how he rapidly annihilated a host of Dānavas using exceptionally powerful arrows—some described as mountain-hard and others as iron, radiant like sun and fire and flashing like thunderbolt and lightning—underscoring the speed and intensity of the combat.