Shloka 13

Sauptika-parva Adhyāya 13 — Bhīmasena’s Pursuit of Drauṇi and the Release of a Divine Astra

Devanagari script

स तेषां प्रेक्षतामेव श्रीमतां दृढ्धन्विनाम्‌ ययौ भागीरथीतीरं हरिभिर्भुशवेगितैः,इति श्रीमहा भारते सौप्तिकपर्वणि ऐषीकपर्वणि ब्रह्मशिरो<स्त्रत्यागे त्रयोदशो<5 ध्याय: इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत सौप्तिकपर्वके अन्तर्गत ऐषीकपर्वनें अश्वत्थामाके द्वारा ब्रह्मास्रका प्रयोगविषयक तेरहवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

sa teṣāṁ prekṣatām eva śrīmatāṁ dṛḍha-dhanvinām yayau bhāgīrathī-tīraṁ haribhir bhuśa-vegibhiḥ | iti śrī-mahābhārate sauptika-parvaṇi aiṣīka-parvaṇi brahma-śiro’stra-tyāge trayodaśo’dhyāyaḥ |

Translation

ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า— ขณะเหล่านักธนูผู้รุ่งเรืองและมั่นคงเฝ้ามองอยู่ เขาก็จากไปสู่ฝั่งแม่น้ำภาคีรถี โดยมีม้าสีทองอันเร็วแรงยิ่งพาไป ดังนี้ ในศรีมหาภารตะ สೌปติกปรวะ ภาคไอษีกะ ว่าด้วยการละทิ้งอาวุธพรหมศิระ บทที่สิบสามจึงสิ้นสุดลง

Word by Word

{'saḥ''he', 'teṣām': 'of them', 'prekṣatām': 'while (they were) watching

of those who were looking on', 'eva''indeed

just', 'śrīmatām''of the illustrious/noble

of the prosperous', 'dṛḍha-dhanvinām''of firm-bowed archers

those with strong bows', 'yayau''went

departed', 'bhāgīrathī-tīram''the bank/shore of the Bhāgīrathī (Gaṅgā)', 'haribhiḥ': 'with tawny (horses)

with bays', 'bhuśa-vegibhiḥ''exceedingly swift

very fast', 'brahma-śiraḥ-astra''the Brahmaśiras weapon (a supreme divine missile)', 'tyāga': 'abandoning

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Bhāgīrathī (Gaṅgā)

hari (tawny horses)

Brahmaśiras astra

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in war, power must be governed by restraint: the narrative framing of the Brahmaśiras weapon’s relinquishment underscores that the use (or continued deployment) of catastrophic divine weapons violates dharma when it risks indiscriminate harm, and that stepping back from such force is an ethical necessity.

What is happening in the narrative?

As the assembled, renowned archers watch, the central figure departs swiftly in a chariot drawn by tawny horses toward the bank of the Bhāgīrathī (Gaṅgā). The verse also functions as a chapter-colophon, closing the adhyāya themed around the abandonment/withdrawal of the Brahmaśiras weapon.