Shloka 13

Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 54 — Missile-Exchange and Tactical Redirection

Arjuna, Aśvatthāman, Karṇa

Devanagari script

ततः स विद्धों भरतर्षभेण बाणेन गात्रावरणातिगेन । गतासुराजौ निपपात भूमौ नगो नगाग्रादिव वातरुग्ण:

Transliteration

tataḥ sa viddho bharatarṣabheṇa bāṇena gātrāvaraṇātigena | gatāsurājau nipapāta bhūmau nago nagāgrādiva vātarugṇaḥ ||

Translation

ତାପରେ ଭରତଶ୍ରେଷ୍ଠ ଅର୍ଜୁନଙ୍କ ଏମିତି ବାଣରେ—ଯାହା କବଚ ଭେଦି ଦେହଭିତରକୁ ପ୍ରବେଶ କଲା—ବିଦ୍ଧ ହୋଇ ସେଇ ରାଜା ଶତ୍ରୁଂତପ ପ୍ରାଣ ତ୍ୟାଗ କରି ଭୂମିରେ ପତିତ ହେଲା; ଯେପରି ଝଡ଼ରେ ଭାଙ୍ଗିଯାଇଥିବା ଗଛ ପର୍ବତଶିଖରରୁ ତଳକୁ ଢଳିପଡ଼େ।

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात् अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विद्धः: pierced, wounded
• विद्धः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्यध् (विध्) धातु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular; Past Passive Participle

• भरतर्षभेण: by the bull among the Bharatas (Arjuna)
• भरतर्षभेण: Karana
• Type: Noun (epithet)
• Root: भरतर्षभ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• बाणेन: by an arrow
• बाणेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाण
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• गात्रावरणातिगेन: that had passed through the body-armor (piercing the protective covering)
• गात्रावरणातिगेन: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गात्रावरणातिग
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• गतासुः: lifeless, whose life had gone
• गतासुः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गतासु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजा: the king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• निपपात: fell down
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (नि + पत्)
• Form: Aorist (लुङ्), 3rd person, Singular, Parasmaipada

• भूमौ: on the ground
• भूमौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमि
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• नगः: a tree (lit. immovable)
• नगः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नगाग्रात्: from a mountain-peak
• नगाग्रात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नगाग्र
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• इव: like, as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव
• Form: Avyaya

• वातरुग्णः: broken/afflicted by the wind
• वातरुग्णः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वातरुग्ण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular; Past Passive Participle (रुज्/रुज्-धातु: 'to break/afflict')

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Arjuna (implied by 'bharatarṣabha')
• bāṇa (arrow)
• gātrāvaraṇa (armor)
• ratha (chariot, implied by the fall)
• bhūmi (ground)
• naga/naga-agra (tree and mountain-peak in the simile)
• vāta (wind/storm)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the inevitability of consequences in righteous conflict: when war is joined under dharma, skill and resolve can bring swift, final outcomes. The storm-torn tree simile stresses impermanence of power and the fragility of embodied life before decisive action.

What is happening in the narrative?

A king is struck by Arjuna’s penetrating arrow that passes through his armor; his life departs and he falls from his chariot onto the battlefield, compared to a great tree blown down from a mountain peak.