Shloka 29
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
पताकिनं वज्जनिपातनि:स्वनं सिताश्चयुक्ते शुभतूणशोभितम् । इमं समास्थाय रथं रथर्षभं रणे हनिष्याम्यहमर्जुनं बलात्
patākinaṃ vajranipātaniḥsvanaṃ sitāśvayukte śubhatūṇaśobhitam | imaṃ samāsthāya rathaṃ ratharṣabhaṃ raṇe haniṣyāmy aham arjunaṃ balāt ||
Sanjaya thưa: “Chiến xa này phấp phới cờ hiệu, tiếng rền của nó như sét giáng; thắng bằng ngựa trắng và điểm tô bằng những ống tên rực rỡ. Lên cỗ xe—bậc nhất trong các chiến xa—ta sẽ dùng sức mạnh mà giết Arjuna nơi chiến địa.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how martial confidence and attachment to power (strength, weapons, a superior chariot) can generate certainty about outcomes in war. Ethically, it points to the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: human resolve and boastful agency versus the larger forces of dharma, destiny, and the consequences of violence.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s declaration: admiring an excellent, thunderous chariot with banners, white horses, and fine quivers, he vows to mount it and kill Arjuna in battle by force. It functions as battlefield rhetoric—an assertion of dominance immediately before or during combat.