Arjuna's Banner and the Pandavas' Horses

Verse 1 (5.56.1)

अक्षौहिणीः सप्त लब्ध्वा राजभिः सह सञ्जय । किंस्विदिच्छति कौन्तेयो युद्धप्रेप्सुर्युधिष्ठिरः ॥

akṣauhiṇīḥ sapta labdhvā rājabhiḥ saha sañjaya | kiṃsvidicchati kaunteyo yuddhaprepsuryudhiṣṭhiraḥ

Having gained seven akshauhinis together with the kings, Sanjaya, what does Kunti's son Yudhishthira intend, eager as he is for war?

Verse 2 (5.56.2)

अतीव मुदितो राजन्युद्धप्रेप्सुर्युधिष्ठिरः । भीमसेनार्जुनौ चोभौ यमावपि न बिभ्यतः ॥

atīva mudito rājanyuddhaprepsuryudhiṣṭhiraḥ | bhīmasenārjunau cobhau yamāvapi na bibhyataḥ

Yudhishthira is overjoyed, O king, and eager for war; and both Bhimasena and Arjuna, and the twins as well, are without fear.

Note on the text: Corrected युद्धप्रेप्युर् → युद्धप्रेप्सुर् (misprint in Wikisource; प्यु for प्सु — the same word stands correctly in verse 1; the critical edition reads yuddhaprepsur).

Verse 3 (5.56.3)

रथं तु दिव्यं कौन्तेयः सर्वा विभ्राजयन्दिशः । मन्त्रं जिज्ञासमानः सन्बीभत्सुः समयोजयत् ॥

rathaṃ tu divyaṃ kaunteyaḥ sarvā vibhrājayandiśaḥ | mantraṃ jijñāsamānaḥ sanbībhatsuḥ samayojayat

Kunti's son Bibhatsu, wishing to test a mantra, yoked his divine chariot, which lit up all the quarters.

Verse 4 (5.56.4)

तमपश्याम सन्नद्धं मेघं विद्युद्युतं यथा । स मन्त्रान्समभिध्याय हृष्यमाणोऽभ्यभाषत । पूर्वरूपमिदं पश्य वयं जेष्याम सञ्जय ॥

tamapaśyāma sannaddhaṃ meghaṃ vidyudyutaṃ yathā | sa mantrānsamabhidhyāya hṛṣyamāṇo'bhyabhāṣata | pūrvarūpamidaṃ paśya vayaṃ jeṣyāma sañjaya

We saw him in his armour, like a cloud joined with lightning. Having meditated on the mantras, he spoke with delight: 'See this foretoken, Sanjaya: we shall win.'

Note on the text: Corrected समन्तात्समभिध्या → स मन्त्रान्समभिध्याय (misprint in Wikisource; समभिध्या is not a word and leaves the quarter a syllable short; स मन्त्रान् was misread as समन्तात्, and the commentary on verse 3 shows the passage is about mantras; the critical edition reads sa mantrān samabhidhyāya). विद्युद्युतं (CE vidyutprabhaṃ) kept as the base text's reading. Three lines as printed: lines 1–2 are CE 5.55.4, line 3 is CE 5.55.5ab (matched by hand).

Verse 5 (5.56.5)

बीभत्सुर्मां यथोवाच तथाऽवैम्यहमप्युत ॥

bībhatsurmāṃ yathovāca tathā'vaimyahamapyuta

As Bibhatsu told me, so I too believe.

Note on the text: A single line, as the page prints it (its own verse 5, closed with ॥): CE 5.55.5cd; the first half of the critical edition's verse is printed as the third line of verse 4 (matched by hand).

Verse 6 (5.56.6)

प्रशंसस्यभिनन्दंस्तान्पार्थानक्षपराजितान् । अर्जुनस्य रथे ब्रूहि कथमश्वाः कथं ध्वजाः ॥

praśaṃsasyabhinandaṃstānpārthānakṣaparājitān | arjunasya rathe brūhi kathamaśvāḥ kathaṃ dhvajāḥ

You praise them and rejoice in them, those sons of Pritha who were beaten at dice! Tell me, what are the horses on Arjuna's chariot like, and the banners?

Verse 7 (5.56.7)

भौमनः सह शक्रेण बहुचित्रं विशांपते । रूपाणि कल्पयामास त्वष्टा धाता सदा विभो ॥

bhaumanaḥ saha śakreṇa bahucitraṃ viśāṃpate | rūpāṇi kalpayāmāsa tvaṣṭā dhātā sadā vibho

Bhaumana, the divine craftsman, together with Shakra, O lord of the people, fashioned on it forms of many kinds and colours; Tvashtri and Dhatri too, my lord.

Note on the text: भौमनः (CE bhauvanaḥ, Vishvakarman) and त्वष्टा धाता सदा विभो (CE tvaṣṭā dhātrā sahābhibho) kept as the base text's readings; the base text's commentary glosses भौमनो विश्वकर्मा, धाता प्रजापतिः.

Verse 8 (5.56.8)

ध्वजे हि तस्मिन्रूपाणि चक्रुस्ते देवमायया । महाधनानि दिव्यानि महान्ति च लघूनि च ॥

dhvaje hi tasminrūpāṇi cakruste devamāyayā | mahādhanāni divyāni mahānti ca laghūni ca

On that banner they made forms by divine magic, precious and celestial, some great and some small.

Verse 9 (5.56.9)

भीमसेनानुरोधाय हनूमान्मारुतात्मजः । आत्मप्रतिकृतिं तस्मिन्ध्वज आरोपयिष्यति ॥

bhīmasenānurodhāya hanūmānmārutātmajaḥ | ātmapratikṛtiṃ tasmindhvaja āropayiṣyati

For Bhimasena's sake, Hanuman, the son of the Wind, will set his own likeness on that banner.

Note on the text: Corrected भीमसेनानुरोधायक → भीमसेनानुरोधाय (misprint in Wikisource; a stray क). Not in the critical edition's text; its apparatus has these two lines as 5.55.8d*0341 (after 5.55.8).

Verse 10 (5.56.10)

सर्वा दिशो योजनमात्रमन्तरं । सतिर्यगूर्ध्वं च रुरोध वै ध्वजः । न संसञ्जेत्तरुभिः संवृतोऽपि । तथा हि माया विहिता भौमनेन ॥

sarvā diśo yojanamātramantaraṃ | satiryagūrdhvaṃ ca rurodha vai dhvajaḥ | na saṃsañjettarubhiḥ saṃvṛto'pi | tathā hi māyā vihitā bhaumanena

The banner spans a full yojana in every direction, across and upward; yet even when hemmed in by trees it never catches in them, such is the magic Bhaumana has wrought.

Verse 11 (5.56.11)

यथाऽऽकाशे शक्रधनुः प्रकाशते । न चैकवर्णं न च वेद्मि किं नु तत् । तथा ध्वजो विहितो भौमनेन । बह्वाकारं दृश्यते रूपमस्य ॥

yathā''kāśe śakradhanuḥ prakāśate | na caikavarṇaṃ na ca vedmi kiṃ nu tat | tathā dhvajo vihito bhaumanena | bahvākāraṃ dṛśyate rūpamasya

As the rainbow shines in the sky, not of one colour, so that one cannot tell what it is, so has Bhaumana made the banner: its form appears in many shapes.

Verse 12 (5.56.12)

यथाऽग्निधूमो दिवमेति रुद्ध्वा । वर्णान्बिभ्रत्तैजसांश्चित्ररूपान् । तथा ध्वजो विहितो भौमनेन । न चेद्भारो भविता नोत रोधः ॥

yathā'gnidhūmo divameti ruddhvā | varṇānbibhrattaijasāṃścitrarūpān | tathā dhvajo vihito bhaumanena | na cedbhāro bhavitā nota rodhaḥ

As the smoke of a fire rises and fills the sky, bearing bright and many-hued colours, so has Bhaumana made the banner: it adds no weight and meets no obstruction.

Verse 13 (5.56.13)

श्वेतास्तस्मिन्वातवेगाः सदश्वा । दिव्या युक्ताश्चित्ररथेन दत्ताः । भुव्यन्तरिक्षे दिवि वा नरेन्द्र । एषां गतिर्हीयते नात्र सर्वा । शतं यत्तत्पूर्यते नित्यकालं । हतंहतं दत्तवरं पुरस्तात् ॥

śvetāstasminvātavegāḥ sadaśvā | divyā yuktāścitrarathena dattāḥ | bhuvyantarikṣe divi vā narendra | eṣāṃ gatirhīyate nātra sarvā | śataṃ yattatpūryate nityakālaṃ | hataṃhataṃ dattavaraṃ purastāt

Yoked to that chariot are white horses of noble breed, swift as the wind, divine, the gift of Chitraratha. On earth, in the sky or in heaven, O lord of men, their course is never checked in any way. Their number is kept at a full hundred for all time: however often they are slain, it is made up again, by a boon granted long ago.

Note on the text: Restored from the critical edition (5.55.12ab, the star passage 5.55.12b*0342, and 5.55.12c): Wikisource prints only the last quarter of this verse (हतंहतं दत्तवरं पुरस्तात्), numbered '13f', which shows that five quarters were lost. Its own commentary on verse 13 explains the lost words (यत्तत् अश्वानां शतं … पूर्यते), confirming that the full verse stood in this recension; the six-quarter length matches the critical edition's verse together with *0342. Lines 1–5 are written from the critical edition's IAST; line 6 is the base text's surviving quarter.

Verse 14 (5.56.14)

तथा राज्ञो दन्तवर्णा बृहन्तो । रथे युक्ता भान्ति तद्वीर्यतुल्याः । ऋक्षप्रख्या भीमसेनस्य वाहा । रथे वायोस्तुल्यवेगा बभूवुः ॥

tathā rājño dantavarṇā bṛhanto | rathe yuktā bhānti tadvīryatulyāḥ | ṛkṣaprakhyā bhīmasenasya vāhā | rathe vāyostulyavegā babhūvuḥ

So too the king's horses, ivory-coloured and huge, shine yoked to his chariot, matching him in valour; and Bhimasena's steeds, dark as bears, were as swift as the wind at his chariot.

Note on the text: Corrected तुल्यवेग → तुल्यवेगा (misprint in Wikisource; dropped ā — the plural agrees with वाहाः; the critical edition reads tulyavegā). ऋक्षप्रख्या and रथे (CE ṛśyaprakhyā, raṇe) kept as the base text's readings.

Verse 15 (5.56.15)

कल्माषाङ्गास्तित्तिरिचित्रपृष्ठा । भ्रात्रा दत्ताः प्रीयता फाल्गुनेन । भ्रातुर्वीरस्य स्वैस्तुरङ्गैर्विशिष्टा । मुदा युक्ताः सहदेवं वहन्ति ॥

kalmāṣāṅgāstittiricitrapṛṣṭhā | bhrātrā dattāḥ prīyatā phālgunena | bhrāturvīrasya svaisturaṅgairviśiṣṭā | mudā yuktāḥ sahadevaṃ vahanti

Horses with speckled bodies and backs mottled like a partridge's, given in affection by his brother Phalguna, and finer than that heroic brother's own steeds, draw Sahadeva joyfully.

Note on the text: Corrected भ्रातुर्बीरस्य → भ्रातुर्वीरस्य (misprint in Wikisource; ब for व; the critical edition reads bhrātur vīrasya).

Verse 16 (5.56.16)

माद्रीपुत्रं नकुलं त्वाजमीढं । महेन्द्रदत्ता हरयो वाजिमुख्याः । समा वायोर्बलवन्तस्तरस्विनो । वहन्ति वीरं वृत्रशत्रुं यथेन्द्रम् ॥

mādrīputraṃ nakulaṃ tvājamīḍhaṃ | mahendradattā harayo vājimukhyāḥ | samā vāyorbalavantastarasvino | vahanti vīraṃ vṛtraśatruṃ yathendram

Madri's son Nakula, the descendant of Ajamidha, is drawn by bay horses, the best of steeds, given by great Indra, strong and swift as the wind, as Indra the foe of Vritra is drawn by his own.

Verse 17 (5.56.17)

तुल्याश्चैभिर्वयसा विक्रमेण । महाजवाश्चित्ररूपाः सदश्वाः । सौभद्रादीन्द्रौपदेयान्कुमारान् । वहन्त्यश्वा देवदत्ता बृहन्तः ॥

tulyāścaibhirvayasā vikrameṇa | mahājavāścitrarūpāḥ sadaśvāḥ | saubhadrādīndraupadeyānkumārān | vahantyaśvā devadattā bṛhantaḥ

Equal to these in age and prowess, very swift, fine horses of many colours, huge, the gifts of the gods, carry the princes, Subhadra's son and the sons of Draupadi.

Note on the text: Corrected महाजवाश्रित्ररूपाः → महाजवाश्चित्ररूपाः (misprint in Wikisource; श्र for श्च — महाजवाः चित्ररूपाः, very swift and many-coloured; the critical edition has a different line here, javena caivāpratirūpāḥ sadaśvāḥ, so this is the smallest fix that yields the evident words).