Shloka 13

Devanagari script

यक्ष उवाच अरणीसहितं हास्य ब्राह्मणस्य हृतं॑ मया । मृगवेषेण कौन्तेय जिज्ञासार्थ तव प्रभो

Transliteration

yakṣa uvāca araṇīsahitaṃ hāsya brāhmaṇasya hṛtaṃ mayā | mṛgaveṣeṇa kaunteya jijñāsārthaṃ tava prabho ||

Translation

യക്ഷൻ പറഞ്ഞു—കൗന്തേയാ! ആ ബ്രാഹ്മണന്റെ അരണിയോടുകൂടിയ മഥനകാഷ്ഠം ഞാൻ തന്നെയാണ് അപഹരിച്ചത്. പ്രഭോ, മൃഗവേഷം ധരിച്ചു നിന്റെ ബോധം പരീക്ഷിക്കാനാണ് ഞാൻ അങ്ങനെ ചെയ്തത്.

Word by Word

यक्षःthe Yaksha

उवाचsaid

अरणीwith the fire-stick (arani)

सहितम्together with, accompanied by

हास्यम्a laughable thing / jest (here: the object taken)

ब्राह्मणस्यof the Brahmin

हृतम्taken away, stolen

मयाby me

मृगवेषेणin/with the guise of a deer

कौन्तेयO son of Kunti

जिज्ञासार्थम्for the purpose of testing/inquiring

तवof you / your

प्रभोO lord

Speaker

यक्ष उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yakṣa

Kaunteya (son of Kuntī)

Brāhmaṇa (the Brahmin)

Araṇī (fire-drill set)

Mṛga (deer disguise)

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 frames an ethical test: apparent wrongdoing (taking a Brahmin’s sacred fire-making tools) is revealed as a deliberate trial meant to examine the hero’s discernment and commitment to dharma under pressure and uncertainty.

What is happening in the narrative?

The Yakṣa discloses that he himself seized the Brahmin’s araṇī by assuming a deer’s form. He explains that this was done to probe Kaunteya’s qualities—setting up the larger episode of questioning and moral evaluation.