Mahabharata 9.17.45 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 17, Shloka 45
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
ईशानहेतो: प्रतिनिर्मितां तां त्वष्टा रिपूणामसुदेहभक्ष्याम् । भूम्यन्तरिक्षादिजलाशयानि प्रसहा भूतानि निहन्तुमीशाम्
īśāna-hetoḥ pratinirmitāṃ tāṃ tvaṣṭā ripūṇām asu-deha-bhakṣyām | bhūmy-antarikṣādi-jalāśayāni prasahā bhūtāni nihantum īśām ||
สัญชัยกล่าวว่า—เพื่ออิศานะ (พระศิวะ) ตวษฏฤ (วิศวกรรมัน) ได้สร้างพลังนั้นขึ้นใหม่ มันสามารถกลืนกินทั้งลมหายใจชีวิตและกายของศัตรู และยังมีฤทธิ์ทำลายเหล่าสัตว์ผู้สถิตบนพื้นดิน ในเวหา และในน่านน้ำได้โดยกำลัง
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how divinely sanctioned power, once unleashed, can become vast and indiscriminate—capable of consuming life itself across all realms (land, sky, water). It implicitly warns that even ‘legitimate’ force in war carries ethical risk when its scope exceeds discrimination and restraint.
Sañjaya describes a formidable power/weapon crafted by the divine artisan Tvaṣṭṛ for the sake of Śiva (Īśāna). This force is portrayed as able to devour enemies’ life-breath and bodies and to destroy beings everywhere—on earth, in the atmosphere, and in waters—emphasizing its overwhelming, world-spanning lethality.
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