Shloka 54
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
बलाहकादुच्चरत: सुभीमान् विद्युत्स्फुलिड्रानिव घोररूपान् | सहस्रध्नान् द्विषतां सड़रेषु अस्थिच्छिदो मर्मभिद: सुपुड्खान्
balāhakād uccarataḥ subhīmān vidyut-sphuliṅgān iva ghora-rūpān | sahasra-ghnān dviṣatāṁ śarāṇeṣu asthi-cchido marma-bhidaḥ su-puṅkhān ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Dari busur Gāṇḍīva akan meluncur anak-anak panah—mengerikan dipandang—laksana percikan kilat yang dahsyat memancar dari awan ribut. Bersayap bulu yang elok dan bermata tajam, ia akan memutus tulang dan menembusi titik-titik hayat; dalam barisan musuh ia menjadi pembunuh ribuan. Apabila Duryodhana, putera Dhṛtarāṣṭra, menyaksikan kebinasaan itu di medan, dia akan menyesali dengan pahit kebodohan kerana mencetuskan perang ini.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral consequence of adharma-driven choices: initiating an unjust war out of pride and greed leads not to glory but to catastrophic suffering and inevitable remorse when the reality of violence becomes undeniable.
Sañjaya vividly foretells the battlefield outcome: Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva will unleash fearsome, well-feathered arrows likened to lightning-sparks from a storm cloud, slaughtering enemy ranks by cutting bones and piercing vital points; seeing this, Duryodhana will repent having set the war in motion.