Shloka 6
उलूकदूतवाक्यम् / Ulūka’s Message to the Pāṇḍavas
धारयामास तत् कृष्ण: परसेना भयावहम् । गाण्डीवं पावकाललेभे खाण्डवे पाकशासनि:,शत्रुसेनाको भयभीत करनेवाले उस शार्क्न -धनुषको भगवान् श्रीकृष्णने धारण किया और खाण्डव-दाहके समय इन्द्रकुमार अर्जुनने साक्षात् अग्निदेवसे गाण्डीवधनुष प्राप्त किया था
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
dhārayāmāsa tat kṛṣṇaḥ parasenā-bhayāvaham |
gāṇḍīvaṃ pāvakāl lebhe khāṇḍave pākaśāsaniḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: Kṛṣṇa memikul senjata yang menggerunkan itu, yang menimbulkan ketakutan pada bala tentera musuh. Dan Arjuna, penunduk musuh, telah memperoleh busur Gāṇḍīva secara langsung daripada dewa Api, Agni, pada saat pembakaran hutan Khāṇḍava.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes that extraordinary power—symbolized by divinely sourced weapons—carries moral weight. Such strength is not for vanity or cruelty but is to be exercised as a sacred trust in the service of dharma, especially in the grave context of war.
The narrator recalls how Kṛṣṇa bears a weapon that terrifies enemy ranks, and how Arjuna came to possess the famed bow Gāṇḍīva from Agni during the Khāṇḍava forest conflagration—highlighting the formidable, divinely connected armament of the Pāṇḍava side.