Shloka 44
Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial
एष युद्धे महादेवं तोषयिष्यति शंकरम् । अस्त्रं पाशुपतं नाम तस्मात् तुष्टादवाप्स्यति,“यह युद्धमें देवाधिदेव भगवान् शंकरको संतुष्ट करेगा और संतुष्ट हुए उन महेश्वरसे पाशुपत नामक अस्त्र प्राप्त करेगा। निवातकवच नामक दैत्य देवताओंसे सदा द्वेष रखते हैं। तुम्हारा यह महाबाहु पुत्र इन्द्रकी आज्ञासे उन सब दैत्योंका संहार कर डालेगा
eṣa yuddhe mahādevaṃ toṣayiṣyati śaṅkaram | astraṃ pāśupataṃ nāma tasmāt tuṣṭād avāpsyati |
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Nesta guerra ele agradará a Mahādeva Śaṅkara; e, quando esse grande Senhor estiver satisfeito, obterá dele a arma chamada Pāśupata.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links legitimate martial power to devotion and divine approval: the highest weapons and decisive success are portrayed as gifts granted when a great deity is genuinely pleased, implying that force should be guided by dharma and reverence rather than mere ambition.
Vaiśampāyana foretells that the hero being discussed will, in the course of war, please Śiva (Mahādeva/Śaṅkara) and, once Śiva is satisfied, will receive the famed Pāśupata weapon from him.