Shloka 103

Devanagari script

ततो<ग्निसदृशं घोरं शरं सर्पविषोपमम्‌ | अश्मसारमयं दिव्यमभिमन्त्रय परंतप:

Transliteration

tato 'gnisadṛśaṃ ghoraṃ śaraṃ sarpaviṣopamam | aśmasāramayaṃ divyam abhimantrya parantapaḥ |

Translation

สัญชัยกล่าวว่า—แล้วอรชุน ผู้เผาผลาญศัตรู ได้ร่ายมนตร์กำกับศรทิพย์ดอกหนึ่ง อันน่าสะพรึงดุจเพลิง ร้ายแรงดุจพิษนาค และแข็งกร้าวดุจวัชระ ครั้นอัญเชิญอาวุธ “เราอุทร” อันดุดันสถิตลงในศรนั้นแล้ว ก็หมายจะปล่อยใส่กรรณะ ข้าแต่มหาราช! ในขณะนั้นเอง แผ่นดินได้ฉวยและกลืนล้อรถศึกของกรรณะ โอรสแห่งราธาเสีย

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tataḥ', 'definition': 'then

• thereafter'}, {'term': 'agnisadṛśam', 'definition': 'like fire

• fire-like'}, {'term': 'ghoram', 'definition': 'terrible

• fearsome'}, {'term': 'śaram', 'definition': 'arrow'}, {'term': 'sarpaviṣopamam', 'definition': 'comparable to serpent-venom

• as deadly as snake poison'}, {'term': 'aśmasāramayam', 'definition': 'made of aśmasāra (adamantine/stone-essence

• extremely hard substance)'}, {'term': 'divyam', 'definition': 'divine

• celestial'}, {'term': 'abhimantrya', 'definition': 'having invoked (mantras) over

• having consecrated/enchanted'}, {'term': 'parantapaḥ', 'definition': 'scorcher of foes (epithet of Arjuna)'}, {'term': 'raudrāstra', 'definition': 'the Rudra/Śiva missile

• a fierce divine weapon'}, {'term': 'pṛthivī', 'definition': 'the earth (as a power/personified force)'}, {'term': 'rādhāputraḥ', 'definition': 'son of Rādhā (epithet of Karṇa)'}, {'term': 'cakra/pahiya', 'definition': 'wheel (of the chariot)'}, {'term': 'gras', 'definition': 'to seize, swallow, engulf'}]

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Arjuna
• Karṇa (Rādhāputra)
• Pṛthivī (Earth, personified)
• Śara (divine arrow)
• Raudrāstra (Rudra weapon)
• Chariot wheel

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, human prowess and even divine weapons operate within a larger moral-causal order: decisive moments can turn on forces beyond immediate control, suggesting the interplay of karma, destiny, and the ethical weight of prior actions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna prepares and empowers a terrifying divine arrow (linked with the fierce Rudra weapon) to strike Karṇa; at that critical instant, the earth grips Karṇa’s chariot wheel, immobilizing him and setting the stage for the climactic, morally fraught confrontation.