तौ पुनः संन्यवर्तेतां प्राणद्यूतपरे रणे ॥
निवारयन्तौ बाणौघैः परस्परम् अमर्षिणौ ॥
उत्सृजन्तौ महेष्वासौ शरवृष्टीः समन्ततः ॥
द्रौणिपार्षतयोर् युद्धं घोररूपं भयानकम् ॥
दृष्ट्वा संपूजयाम् आसुः सिद्धचारणवातिकाः ॥
शरौघैः पूरयन्तौ ताव् आकाशं प्रदिशस् तथा ॥
अलक्ष्यौ समयुध्येतां महत् कृत्वा शरैस् तमः ॥
नृत्यमानाव् इव रणे मण्डलीकृतकार्मुकौ ॥
परस्परवधे यत्तौ परस्परजयैषिणौ ॥
अयुध्येतां महाबाहू चित्रं लघु च सुष्ठु च ॥
संपूज्यमानौ समरे योधमुख्यैः सहस्रशः ॥
tau punaḥ saṃnyavartetāṃ prāṇadyūtapare raṇe ||
nivārayantau bāṇaughaiḥ parasparam amarṣiṇau ||
utsṛjantau maheṣvāsau śaravṛṣṭīḥ samantataḥ ||
drauṇipārṣatayor yuddhaṃ ghorarūpaṃ bhayānakam ||
dṛṣṭvā saṃpūjayām āsuḥ siddhacāraṇavātikāḥ ||
śaraughaiḥ pūrayantau tāv ākāśaṃ pradiśas tathā ||
alakṣyau samayudhyetāṃ mahat kṛtvā śarais tamaḥ ||
nṛtyamānāv iva raṇe maṇḍalīkṛtakārmukau ||
parasparavadhe yattau parasparajayaiṣiṇau ||
ayudhyetāṃ mahābāhū citraṃ laghu ca suṣṭhu ca ||
saṃpūjyamānau samare yodhamukhyaiḥ sahasraśaḥ ||
The two came together again in the battle where life was the stake, warding off each other's streams of arrows, indignant. Seeing the battle of Drauni and Parshata, dreadful in appearance, formidable, the siddhas, charanas, and wanderers extolled it. The two, filling the sky and the quarters of the world with streams of arrows, fought invisibly, having wrought a great darkness with arrows; as if dancing in battle, their bows turned into circles, striving for each other's mutual slaying, seeking victory over one another.
0c23291b4ff7 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:40:45 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The duel 'where life is the stake' is so wondrous that siddhas and charanas praise it; the fighters are hidden in the darkness of their own arrows, as if dancing. It is telling that the beauty of the clash delights even the dispassionate. The verse teaches that the meeting of equal masters is a lofty spectacle, honored even by the celestials; but behind the grace of the 'dance' lies a mutual thirst for death, and the darkness they weave is the darkness of mutual destruction.