Shloka 16

Devanagari script

त्वगुवाच नेमे बाणास्तरिष्यन्ति मामलर्क कथंचन । तवैव मर्म भेत्स्यन्ति भिन्नमर्मा मरिष्यसि

Transliteration

tvag uvāca neme bāṇās tariṣyanti mām alarka kathaṃcana | tavaiva marma bhetsyanti bhinnamarmā mariṣyasi

Translation

ผิวหนังกล่าวว่า “อาลรกะ ลูกศรเหล่านี้ไม่มีทางแทงทะลุข้าไม่ว่ากรณีใด มันจะย้อนแทงมรณะจุดของเจ้าเอง; เมื่อมรณะจุดแตกสลาย เจ้าจักถึงความตาย”

Word by Word

त्वक्the skin (personified)

उवाचsaid/spoke

नnot

इमेthese

बाणाःarrows

तरिष्यन्तिwill cross/overcome/pierce

माम्me

अलर्कO Alarka

कथंचनin any way/at all

तवyour

एवindeed/only

मर्मvital spot

भेत्स्यन्तिwill pierce/split

भिन्न-मर्माone whose vital spot is pierced

मरिष्यसिyou will die

Speaker

अलर्क उवाच

Characters & Entities

Alarka

skin (tvak)

arrows (bāṇāḥ)

vital points (marma)

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?

Do not mistake superficial protection or confidence for true invulnerability: even if the outer body seems unharmed, a strike to the marma (vital points) brings ruin. Ethically, it warns against arrogance and urges clear-eyed awareness of one’s real vulnerabilities.

What is happening in the narrative?

Alarka addresses an opponent (or the personified ‘skin’) that boasts the arrows cannot pierce it. He counters that the arrows will in fact hit the vital spots, and once those are broken, death is inevitable—shifting the focus from outward toughness to inner, decisive vulnerability.