खरोष्ट्रमहिषाः सिंहा व्याघ्राः सृमरचिल्लिकाः ॥
ऋक्षाः सालावृका गृध्राः कपयो ऽथ सरीसृपाः ॥
विविधानि च रक्षांसि क्षुधितान्य् अर्जुनं प्रति ॥
संक्रुद्धान्य् अभ्यधावन्त विविधानि वयांसि च ॥
ततो दिव्यास्त्रविच् छूरः कुन्तीपुत्रो धनंजयः ॥
विसृजन्न् इषुजालानि सहसा तान्य् अताडयत् ॥
ते हन्यमानाः शूरेण प्रवरैः सायकैर् दृढैः ॥
विरुवन्तो महारावान् विनेशुः सर्वतो हताः ॥
kharoṣṭramahiṣāḥ siṃhā vyāghrāḥ sṛmaracillikāḥ ||
ṛkṣāḥ sālāvṛkā gṛdhrāḥ kapayo 'tha sarīsṛpāḥ ||
vividhāni ca rakṣāṃsi kṣudhitāny arjunaṃ prati ||
saṃkruddhāny abhyadhāvanta vividhāni vayāṃsi ca ||
tato divyāstravic chūraḥ kuntīputro dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
visṛjann iṣujālāni sahasā tāny atāḍayat ||
te hanyamānāḥ śūreṇa pravaraiḥ sāyakair dṛḍhaiḥ ||
viruvanto mahārāvān vineśuḥ sarvato hatāḥ ||
Donkeys, camels and buffaloes, lions, tigers, wild beasts, bears, hyenas, vultures, monkeys and reptiles, and ravenous rakshasas of every kind charged at Arjuna, enraged, along with various birds. Then the knower of divine weapons, the warrior Kunti's son Dhananjaya, loosing webs of arrows, at once smote them. Struck down by this warrior with excellent, strong arrows, howling with great cries, they vanished everywhere, struck down.
d120af53068f · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:11:21 PM UTC
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Against the hordes of phantom beasts and demons Arjuna turns "divine weapons" -- and the delusion dissolves. Here the power of true knowledge shows itself: illusion, however fearsome, cannot withstand contact with what is real. It is telling that Arjuna is not terrified by the monstrous appearance, for he knows its nature -- he is "a knower of divine weapons," and so is not deceived. The verse teaches that illusion holds power only over the ignorant but dissolves before one who knows its nature; that true knowledge is a weapon against every delusion; and that one need not fear terrifying phantoms, however real they seem, for before the ray of truth they "vanish everywhere," as the beasts conjured by Shakuni vanished under the arrows of Arjuna, who had seen through their deception.