Shloka 22

मौसलपर्व — अध्याय ८

Arjuna’s evacuation of Dvārakā, Vasudeva’s rites, and the caravan’s crisis

Devanagari script

शरैगण्डीवनिर्मुक्तिरहं पश्चाच्च नाशयम्‌ | तमपश्यन्‌ विषीदामि घूर्णामीव च सत्तम,साधुशिरोमणे! जो पहले स्वयं ही अपने तेजसे शत्रुसेनाओंको दग्ध कर देते थे, उसके बाद मैं गाण्डीव धनुषसे छूटे हुए बाणोंद्वारा उन शत्रुओंका नाश करता था, उन्हीं भगवान्‌को आज न देखनेके कारण मैं विषादमें डूबा हुआ हूँ। मुझे चक्‍्कर-सा आ रहा है

Transliteration

śaraiḥ gāṇḍīva-nirmuktaiḥ ahaṃ paścāt ca nāśayam | tam apaśyan viṣīdāmi ghūrṇāmīva ca sattama |

Translation

Arjuna disse: “Depois que ele já havia chamuscado as hostes inimigas com a sua própria radiância, eu então destruía esses adversários com flechas disparadas do Gāṇḍīva. Agora, por não o ver, afundo na tristeza; sinto como se estivesse cambaleando, ó melhor dos homens.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'śaraiḥ', 'gloss': 'with arrows'}, {'term': 'gāṇḍīva-nirmuktaiḥ', 'gloss': 'released from the Gāṇḍīva bow'}, {'term': 'ahaṃ', 'gloss': 'I'}, {'term': 'paścāt', 'gloss': 'afterwards

• thereafter'}, {'term': 'nāśayam', 'gloss': 'I destroyed

• I caused to perish'}, {'term': 'tam', 'gloss': 'him (that one—here, Kṛṣṇa)'}, {'term': 'apaśyan', 'gloss': 'not seeing

• failing to behold'}, {'term': 'viṣīdāmi', 'gloss': 'I grieve

• I sink into despondency'}, {'term': 'ghūrṇāmi iva', 'gloss': 'as if I am spinning/reeling

• as though dizzy'}, {'term': 'sattama', 'gloss': 'O best of the good/men

• vocative of address'}, {'term': 'tejasā', 'gloss': 'by (his) radiance/energy (implied by context)'}, {'term': 'śatru-senāḥ', 'gloss': 'enemy armies (implied by context)'}]

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Gāṇḍīva (bow)
• Kṛṣṇa (implied by 'tam' and context of divine aid)
• enemy armies

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Arjuna recognizes that his famed prowess was secondary to Kṛṣṇa’s sustaining power; when that divine support is absent, even a great hero feels helpless. The verse highlights dependence on grace, the fragility of human confidence, and the ethical humility that victory is not merely personal achievement.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Mausala Parva’s aftermath, Arjuna laments that he can no longer see Kṛṣṇa. Recalling the war, he says Kṛṣṇa would first overwhelm enemy forces by his own might, and only afterward would Arjuna finish them with arrows from the Gāṇḍīva; now, separated from him, Arjuna is overcome by sorrow and dizziness.