Shloka 72
Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial
आयसयुस्तपसा युक्ता महाक्रोधा महाबला: । एते चान्ये च बहवस्तत्र नागा व्यवस्थिता:
āyasayus tapasa yuktā mahākrodhā mahābalāḥ | ete cānye ca bahavas tatra nāgā vyavasthitāḥ | karkoṭakaḥ sarpas tathā vāsuki-nāgaḥ kaśyapaḥ kuṇḍaḥ mahānāgaś ca takṣakaḥ—ete tathā anye'pi bahavo mahābalino mahākrodhinas tapasyino nāgāḥ tatra āgatya tiṣṭhanti |
आयुष्यन्तस्तपसा युक्ता महाक्रोधा महाबलाः । एते चान्ये च बहवस्तत्र नागा व्यवस्थिताः ॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse juxtaposes tapas (disciplined ascetic power) with mahākrodha (great wrath), suggesting that spiritual potency and moral temperament can coexist in tension; power becomes ethically charged when anger is uncontrolled.
A large group of Nāgas gathers and stands assembled at a particular place in the story; prominent serpent-lords such as Karkoṭaka, Vāsuki, Mahānāga, and Takṣaka are named among many others.