Shloka 11
Arjuna’s Concentrated Archery and the Rout of the Kaurava Mahārathas
Gāṇḍīva-Nirghoṣa Episode
दिवमावृत्य शब्दस्तु निवृत्त: शुश्रुवे पुन: । सृष्टो मघवता वज्र: प्रपतन्निव पर्वते,वह शंखनाद स्वर्गलोकसे टकराकर जब पुनः लौटा, तब इस प्रकार सुनायी दिया, मानो इन्द्रका चलाया हुआ वज्र किसी पर्वतपर गिरा हो
divam āvṛtya śabdas tu nivṛttaḥ śuśruve punaḥ | sṛṣṭo maghavatā vajraḥ prapatann iva parvate ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: Bunyi itu, setelah memenuhi langit, kembali sebagai gema dan terdengar sekali lagi—bagaikan vajra Indra, Tuhan para dewa, yang dilontar lalu menghentam sebuah gunung. Narasi ini menegaskan kedahsyatan saat itu: satu isyarat perang sahaja bergema ke seluruh dunia seperti senjata ilahi, membangkitkan keberanian dan juga gentar dalam satu hembusan.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a single powerful act or signal can reverberate far beyond its immediate source, shaping collective emotion and resolve. By comparing the echoing sound to Indra’s vajra striking a mountain, it frames human conflict in a moral-psychological register: courage, fear, and duty are awakened by forces that feel larger than any individual.
A tremendous sound rises and fills the sky; then it returns as an echo and is heard again. The narrator describes this returning roar as resembling Indra’s thunderbolt crashing onto a mountain—an image used to convey overwhelming intensity and the dramatic escalation of the scene.