Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 9
विराटसभायां पाण्डवानां प्रवेशः — Arjuna’s Encomium of Yudhiṣṭhira in Virāṭa’s Court
शरप्रतप्त: स तु नागराज: प्रवेषिताड़ो व्यथितान्तरात्मा । संसीदमानो निपपात मह्ं वज्राहतं शुड्रमिवाचलस्यथ
śaraprataptaḥ sa tu nāgarājaḥ praveśitāḍyo vyathitāntarātmā | saṃsīdamāno nipapāta mahīṃ vajrāhataṃ śṛṅgam ivācalasya ||
ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า—เมื่อถูกศรของอรชุนแผดเผา พญาคชสารผู้ทรงเดชดุจราชานาคก็ปวดร้าวถึงดวงใจ ครั้นกำลังร่อยหรอและจิตสั่นสะท้าน เขาทรุดล้มลงสู่พื้นปฐพี ดุจยอดเขาถูกวัชระฟาดแล้วพังทลายลงฉะนั้น
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of consequence in battle: physical might and royal stature do not protect one from collapse when struck by superior force. It also uses a vivid simile to remind the listener that even what seems immovable (a mountain peak) can fall—an ethical reflection on the fragility of power amid violence.
The narrator describes a powerful beast (called nāgarāja, ‘lord among nāgas/elephants’) being burned and tormented by arrows, becoming inwardly distressed, losing strength, and falling to the ground—compared to a mountain summit shattered by a thunderbolt.
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