ते दिशो विदिशः सर्वाः प्रतिरुध्य प्रहारिणः ॥
निघ्नन्ति विविधैः शस्त्रैस् ततो मे व्यथितं मनः ॥
ततो ऽहं मातलेर् वीर्यम् अपश्यं परमाद्भुतम् ॥
अश्वांस् तथा वेगवतो यद् अयत्नाद् अधारयत् ॥
ततो ऽहं लघुभिश् चित्रैर् अस्त्रैस् तान् असुरान् रणे ॥
सायुधान् अच्छिनं राजञ् शतशो ऽथ सहस्रशः ॥
एवं मे चरतस् तत्र सर्वयत्नेन शत्रुहन् ॥
प्रीतिमान् अभवद् वीरो मातलिः शक्रसारथिः ॥
वध्यमानास् ततस् ते तु हयैस् तेन रथेन च ॥
अगमन् प्रक्षयं के चिन् न्यवर्तन्त तथापरे ॥
स्पर्धमाना इवास्माभिर् निवातकवचा रणे ॥
शरवर्षैर् महद्भिर् मां समन्तात् प्रत्यवारयन् ॥
ततो ऽहं लघुभिश् चित्रैर् ब्रह्मास्त्रपरिमन्त्रितैः ॥
व्यधमं सायकैर् आशु शतशो ऽथ सहस्रशः ॥
ततः संपीड्यमानास् ते क्रोधाविष्टा महासुराः ॥
अपीडयन् मां सहिताः शरशूलासिवृष्टिभिः ॥
te diśo vidiśaḥ sarvāḥ pratirudhya prahāriṇaḥ ||
nighnanti vividhaiḥ śastrais tato me vyathitaṃ manaḥ ||
tato 'haṃ mātaler vīryam apaśyaṃ paramādbhutam ||
aśvāṃs tathā vegavato yad ayatnād adhārayat ||
tato 'haṃ laghubhiś citrair astrais tān asurān raṇe ||
sāyudhān acchinaṃ rājañ śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ ||
evaṃ me caratas tatra sarvayatnena śatruhan ||
prītimān abhavad vīro mātaliḥ śakrasārathiḥ ||
vadhyamānās tatas te tu hayais tena rathena ca ||
agaman prakṣayaṃ ke cin nyavartanta tathāpare ||
spardhamānā ivāsmābhir nivātakavacā raṇe ||
śaravarṣair mahadbhir māṃ samantāt pratyavārayan ||
tato 'haṃ laghubhiś citrair brahmāstraparimantritaiḥ ||
vyadhamaṃ sāyakair āśu śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ ||
tataḥ saṃpīḍyamānās te krodhāviṣṭā mahāsurāḥ ||
apīḍayan māṃ sahitāḥ śaraśūlāsivṛṣṭibhiḥ ||
"They blocked every direction and intermediate direction and struck me with an array of weapons; then my mind was troubled. Then I beheld the supreme and wondrous skill of Matali: he held such swift horses without effort. With light, varied astras I cut down the armed asuras in battle by the hundred and by the thousand, and the hero Matali, Shakra's charioteer, was pleased. Some, struck down by the horses and that chariot, went to their death; others withdrew. But the Nivatakavacas, as if rivaling us, again hemmed me in from every side with great showers of arrows. Then I, with light and skillful arrows consecrated by the Brahmastra, swiftly scattered them by the hundred and by the thousand. But the hard-pressed, wrath-filled great asuras together bore down on me with a rain of arrows, spears, and swords."
751f85373ce7 · published Jul 16, 2026, 5:13:49 PM UTC
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Arjuna does not hide that he was troubled. His greatness lies not in the absence of pressure but in finding sure footing amid it and acting with precision.