Shloka 48
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
हत्वा चैनं धनुष्कोट्या शूलाग्रेणेव कुज्जरम् । नयामि दण्डधारस्य यमस्य सदन प्रति,वे मन-ही-मन सोचने लगे, “मेरे सारे बाण नष्ट हो गये, अब मैं धनुषसे क्या चलाऊँगा। यह कोई अदभुत पुरुष है, जो मेरे सारे बाणोंको खाये जा रहा है। अच्छा, अब मैं शूलके अग्रभागसे घायल किये जानेवाले हाथीकी भाँति इसे धनुषकी कोटि (नोक)-से मारकर दण्डधारी यमराजके लोकमें पहुँचा देता हूँ”
hatvā cainaṁ dhanuṣkoṭyā śūlāgreṇeva kuñjaram | nayāmi daṇḍadhārasya yamasya sadanaṁ prati ||
Wika ng Kīrāta: “Kapag napatay ko siya sa dulo ng aking busog—gaya ng elepanteng nasugatan ng dulo ng sibat—ipapadala ko siya sa tahanan ni Yama, ang may hawak ng tungkod.” Ipinahihiwatig ng pananalitang ito ang mabangis na pasya ng mangangaso na tapusin ang sagupaan nang walang alinlangan, at inilalarawan ang kamatayan bilang bunga sa ilalim ng kapangyarihan ni Yama, hindi lamang bilang personal na paghihiganti.
किरयात उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how violent intent is rhetorically justified by invoking cosmic justice: the speaker frames killing as delivering the opponent to Yama’s domain, suggesting that death is not merely personal triumph but an act placed under the larger order of punishment and judgment.
The Kīrāta, angered and determined, declares he will kill his opponent by striking with the bow’s tip, comparing the blow to a spear-point wounding an elephant, and says he will send the foe to Yama’s abode.