Shloka 15

Śalya’s Consecration as Senāpati and Kṛṣṇa’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira (शल्यस्य सेनापत्यभिषेकः)

Devanagari script

आराध्य त्र्यम्बक॑ यत्नाद व्रतैरुग्रैमहातपा: । अयोनिजायामुत्पन्नो द्रोणेनायोनिजेन यः

Transliteration

ārādhya tryambakaṃ yatnād vratair ugrair mahātapāḥ | ayonijāyām utpanno droṇenāyonijena yaḥ ||

Translation

సంజయుడు పలికెను—ఉగ్ర వ్రతాలు, కఠిన తపస్సులతో త్ర్యంబకుడు (శివుడు)ను యత్నపూర్వకంగా ఆరాధించి ఆ మహాతపస్వి అవతరించాడు—అయోనిజగా జన్మించినవాడు; అలాగే ద్రోణుడూ అయోనిజుడై ఉండి అతనిని జనింపజేశాడు.

Word by Word

आराध्यhaving propitiated / worshipped

त्र्यम्बकम्Tryambaka (Śiva)

यत्नात्with effort / diligently

व्रतैःby vows / observances

उग्रैःfierce / severe

महातपाःthe great ascetic

अयोनिजायाम्in (one) not born of a womb

उत्पन्नःborn / arisen

द्रोणेनby Droṇa

अयोनिजेनnot womb-born

यःwho

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Tryambaka (Śiva)

Droṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the traditional idea that intense discipline—severe vows and austerity—directed toward a deity (here, Śiva as Tryambaka) can yield extraordinary results. It frames exceptional power or destiny as rooted in devotion and tapas, not merely in ordinary lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a figure characterized by extraordinary, non-ordinary birth (ayonija) and links that origin to rigorous worship of Śiva. The line also recalls Droṇa’s own unusual origin, emphasizing a chain of exceptional births within the unfolding war narrative.