The Advent of Arjun
Gauntleted and jewel-girdled, with his bow of ample height,Archer Arjun pious-hearted to the gods performed a rite,
Then he stepped forth proud and stately in his golden mail encased,Like the sunlit cloud of evening with the golden rainbow graced!
And a gladness stirred the people all around the listed plain,Voice of drum and blare of trumpet rose with sankha's festive strain!
"Mark! the gallant son of Pandu, whom the happy Pritha bore,Mark! the heir of INDRA'S valour, matchless in his arms and lore,
Mark! the warrior young and valiant, peerless in his skill of arms,Mark! the pure-souled, pious chieftain, decked with grace and variedcharms!"
Pritha heard such grateful voices borne aloft unto the sky,Milk of love suffused her bosom, tear of joy was in her eye!
And where rested Kuru's monarch, joyous accents struck his ear,And he turned to wise Vidura seeking for the cause to hear:
"Wherefore like the voice of ocean, when the tempest winds prevail,Rise these voices of the people and the spacious skies assail?"
Answered him the wise Vidura, "It is Pritha's gallant boy,Godlike moves in golden armour, and the people shout for joy!"
"Pleased am I," so spake the monarch, "and I bless my happy fate,Pritha's sons like fires of yajna sanctify this mighty State!"
Now the voices of the people died away and all was still,Arjun to his proud preceptor showed his might and matchless skill.
Towering high or lowly bending, on the turf or on his car,With his bow and glist'ning arrows Arjun waged the mimic war,
Targets on the wide arena, mighty tough or wondrous small,With his arrows bright, unfailing, Arjun pierced them one and all!
Wild-boar shaped of solid iron coursed the wide-extending field,In its jaws five glist'ning arrows sent the archer wondrous-skilled,
Cow-horn by a thread suspended, was by winds unceasing swayed,One and twenty well-aimed arrows on this moving mark he laid,
And with equal skill his rapier did the godlike Arjun wield,Whirling round his mace of battle ranged the spacious tourney field!
Words in this poem 15
- sunlit a.
- Lighted by the sun.
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- blare v. i.
- To sound loudly and somewhat harshly. [OE. blaren, bloren, to cry, woop; cf. G. plärren to bleat, D. blaren to bleat, cry, weep. Prob. an imitative word, but cf. also E. blast. Cf. Blore.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- sanctify v. t.
- To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow. [F. sanctifier, L. sanctificare; sanctus holy + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See Saint, and -fy.]
- preceptor n.
- One who gives commands, or makes rules; specifically, the master or principal of a school; a teacher; an instructor. [L. praeceptor, fr. praecipere to teach: cf. F. précepteur. See Precept.]
- towering a.
- Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- coursed a.
- Hunted; as, a coursed hare.
- swayed a.
- Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.
- rapier n.
- A straight sword, with a narrow and finely pointed blade, used only for thrusting. Rapier fish (Zoöl.), the swordfish. Grew. [F. rapière, perhaps for raspière, and ultimately of German origin, akin to E. rasp, v.]
- wield v. t.
- To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
- tourney v. i.
- To perform in tournaments; to tilt. [Cf.OF. torneier. See Tourney, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Advent of Arjun is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vyasa, The Advent of Arjun, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/the-advent-of-arjun.html, id L15757.
Form and metre
The Advent of Arjun is 33 lines in 16 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 79% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AA heightA · riteA
- 2 AA encasedA · gracedA
- 3 AA plainA · strainA
- 4 AA boreA · loreA
- 5 A-A armsA · varied · charmsA
- 6 AA skyA · eyeA
- 7 AA earA · hearA
- 8 AA prevailA · assailA
- 9 AA boyA · joyA
- 10 AA fateA · stateA
- 11 AA stillA · skillA
- 13 AA smallA · allA
- 15 AA swayedA · laidA
- 16 AA wieldA · fieldA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Gauntleted and jewel-girdled, with his bow of ample height, | 15 | /˘˘·/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Archer Arjun pious-hearted to the gods performed a rite, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘···˘/·· |
| Then he stepped forth proud and stately in his golden mail encased, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Like the sunlit cloud of evening with the golden rainbow graced! | 15 | ··/···/˘··/˘/·· |
| And a gladness stirred the people all around the listed plain, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Voice of drum and blare of trumpet rose with sankha's festive strain! | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| "Mark! the gallant son of Pandu, whom the happy Pritha bore, | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| Mark! the heir of INDRA'S valour, matchless in his arms and lore, | 15 | ······/˘/˘····· |
| Mark! the warrior young and valiant, peerless in his skill of arms, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘····· |
| Mark! the pure-souled, pious chieftain, decked with grace and varied | 15 | ····˘/˘/˘····/˘ |
| charms!" | 1 | · |
| Pritha heard such grateful voices borne aloft unto the sky, | 15 | ····/˘/˘·˘/···· |
| Milk of love suffused her bosom, tear of joy was in her eye! | 15 | ···˘/·/˘······· |
| And where rested Kuru's monarch, joyous accents struck his ear, | 15 | ··/˘··/·/˘/˘··· |
| And he turned to wise Vidura seeking for the cause to hear: | 15 | ········/˘····· |
| "Wherefore like the voice of ocean, when the tempest winds prevail, | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Rise these voices of the people and the spacious skies assail?" | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Answered him the wise Vidura, "It is Pritha's gallant boy, | 15 | /˘··········/˘· |
| Godlike moves in golden armour, and the people shout for joy!" | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| "Pleased am I," so spake the monarch, "and I bless my happy fate, | 15 | ······/·····/˘· |
| Pritha's sons like fires of yajna sanctify this mighty State!" | 15 | ····/···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Now the voices of the people died away and all was still, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘·˘/···· |
| Arjun to his proud preceptor showed his might and matchless skill. | 15 | ·····˘/˘····/˘· |
| Towering high or lowly bending, on the turf or on his car, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘······· |
| With his bow and glist'ning arrows Arjun waged the mimic war, | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| Targets on the wide arena, mighty tough or wondrous small, | 15 | /˘···˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With his arrows bright, unfailing, Arjun pierced them one and all! | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘······· |
| Wild-boar shaped of solid iron coursed the wide-extending field, | 15 | ····/˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| In its jaws five glist'ning arrows sent the archer wondrous-skilled, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Cow-horn by a thread suspended, was by winds unceasing swayed, | 15 | ·····˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| One and twenty well-aimed arrows on this moving mark he laid, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| And with equal skill his rapier did the godlike Arjun wield, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| Whirling round his mace of battle ranged the spacious tourney field! | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘/˘· |
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