न ह्ययं वैष्णवो दिव्य श्शर: परपुरञ्जय:। मोघ: पतति वीर्येण बलदर्पविनाशन्ः।
Meaning
'For this divine arrow of Vishnu, conqueror of hostile cities and destroyer of pride and strength through its own power, never falls in vain.'
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| na | न | not | negation |
| hi | हि | for | particle |
| ayam | अयम् | this | pronoun |
| vaiṣṇava: | वैष्णवः | belonging to Vishnu | nominative adjective |
| divya: | दिव्यः | divine | nominative adjective |
| śara: | शरः | arrow | nominative |
| parapurañjaya: | परपुरञ्जयः | conqueror of enemy cities | nominative adjective |
| mogha: | मोघः | in vain, fruitless | nominative adjective |
| patati | पतति | falls | verb, present |
| vīryeṇa | वीर्येण | by valor/potency | instrumental |
| baladarpavināśana: | बलदर्पविनाशनः | destroyer of the pride of strength | nominative adjective |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source cites the commentary Dharmakutam to argue that the mythological rivalry over Vishnu's or Shiva's superiority is not really the point of this episode: the eulogy of Vishnu's bow exists chiefly to establish it as the instrument that will later be responsible for the destruction of the entire rakshasa race, serving the epic's own narrative goal rather than settling a sectarian dispute.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.76.8 · Bāla Kāṇḍa