Shloka 2

भीमसेनस्य वेगाभिपातः—विशोकसारथिसंवादश्च

Bhīma’s surge and dialogue with charioteer Viśoka

Devanagari script

किरन्निषुगणान्‌ घोरान्‌ स्वर्णपुड्खाज्शिलाशितान्‌ । दर्शयन्‌ विविधान्‌ मार्गान्‌ शिक्षाश्व॒ लघुहस्तवत्‌

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | kirann iṣugaṇān ghorān svarṇapuṅkhān śilāśitān | darśayan vividhān mārgān śikṣāś ca laghuhastavat |

Translation

Sañjaya thưa: “Chàng tuôn ra những chùm tên ghê gớm—lông vàng, mũi được mài sắc như đá—phô bày muôn lối bay và những tinh vi của phép luyện, như một dũng sĩ tay nhanh. Với những mũi tên được gia trì bởi thần khí, chàng vây hãm Yudhiṣṭhira giữa chiến địa và bắt đầu làm kín bầu trời bằng tên.”

Word by Word

• किरन्: scattering, showering
• किरन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: कॄ (किरति)
• Form: Present, Participle (Shatru), Parasmaipada, Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इषु-गणान्: masses of arrows
• इषु-गणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: इषु + गण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• घोरान्: terrible
• घोरान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• स्वर्ण-पुड्ख-अश्म-शिलाशितान्: having golden feathers and stone-sharpened (points)
• स्वर्ण-पुड्ख-अश्म-शिलाशितान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वर्ण + पुड्ख + अश्म + शिलाशित
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• दर्शयन्: showing, displaying
• दर्शयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (दर्शयति)
• Form: Present, Participle (Shatru), Parasmaipada, Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विविधान्: various
• विविधान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• मार्गान्: paths, trajectories
• मार्गान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मार्ग
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• शिक्षासु: in trainings/exercises
• शिक्षासु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिक्षा
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Plural

• लघु-हस्त-वत्: like one with swift hands
• लघु-हस्त-वत्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लघु + हस्त + वत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• arrows (iṣu)
• golden fletching (svarṇapuṅkha)
• whetstone/stone sharpening (śilā-śita)
• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how disciplined training (śikṣā) and technical mastery can make violence extraordinarily effective; ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s tension between prowess and restraint—skill in war is admired, yet its consequences (overwhelming force that ‘fills the sky’) invite reflection on responsible use of power within kṣatriya-dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior unleashing terrifying volleys of expertly prepared arrows, demonstrating varied firing paths and refined technique, and using divinely empowered missiles to check/hem in Yudhiṣṭhira, saturating the battlefield sky with arrows.