Shloka 331

भीष्मरक्षण-प्रकरणम् / The Protective Screen around Bhīṣma and the Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Clash

Devanagari script

दुःशासन रथास्तूर्ण युज्यन्तां भीष्मरक्षिण: । द्वाविंशतिमनीकानि सर्वाण्येवाभिचोदय

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | duḥśāsana rathās tūrṇaṁ yujyantāṁ bhīṣmarakṣiṇaḥ | dvāviṁśatim anīkāni sarvāṇy evābhicodaya ||

Translation

قال سانجيا: «لْتُشَدَّ عرباتُ دُحشاسانا في الحال، تحت حمايةِ بِهِيشما. وحرِّكْ واستنهِضْ جميعَ فرقِ الجيش الاثنتين والعشرين كلَّها».

Word by Word

• दुःशासन: O Duhshasana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःशासन
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• रथाः: chariots
• रथाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तूर्णम्: quickly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तूर्णम्

• युज्यन्ताम्: let (them) be yoked / harnessed
• Type: Verb
• Root: युज्
• Form: Imperative, Third, Plural, Atmanepada, Passive

• भीष्म: of Bhishma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्म
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• रक्षिणः: protectors/guards
• रक्षिणः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रक्षिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• द्वाविंशतिम्: twenty-two
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वाविंशति
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• अनीकानि: divisions/armies
• अनीकानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनीक
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• सर्वाणि: all
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• अभिचोदय: urge on / drive forward
• Type: Verb
• Root: चुद्
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada, Active

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Duḥśāsana
• Bhīṣma
• chariots
• twenty-two army divisions (anīkāni)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war accelerates through urgent commands and dependence on powerful protectors; ethically, it underscores the epic’s recurring tension between kṣatriya duty to fight and the peril of being driven by haste, incitement, and attachment to victory.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a Kaurava order: Duḥśāsana’s chariots are to be readied immediately under Bhīṣma’s protection, and all twenty-two troop-divisions are to be stirred up and deployed for battle.