Shloka 8

आपद्धर्मे कोशबलन्यायः | Treasury, Force, and Crisis-Ethics for the King

Devanagari script

शरीरमपि राजेन्द्र तस्य कानिषप्ठिकासमम्‌ । ग्रीवा बाहू तथा पादौ केशाश्षाद्भुतदर्शना:

Transliteration

śarīram api rājendra tasya kāniṣṭhikā-samam | grīvā bāhū tathā pādau keśāś cādbhuta-darśanāḥ ||

Translation

قال بهيشما: «يا خيرَ الملوك، إن جسده كان نحيلًا كإصبع الخنصر. وكانت عنقه وذراعاه وقدماه وشَعرُ رأسه جميعًا على هيئةٍ عجيبةٍ خارجةٍ عن المألوف.»

Word by Word

• शरीरम्: body
• शरीरम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरीर
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• राजेन्द्र: O king of kings
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजेन्द्र
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• तस्य: of him/of that one
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• कनिष्ठिका: with/like the little finger
• कनिष्ठिका: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कनिष्ठिका
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• समम्: equal/similar
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• ग्रीवा: neck
• ग्रीवा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ग्रीवा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• बाहू: two arms
• बाहू: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाहु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• तथा: and likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• पादौ: two feet
• पादौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाद
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• केशाः: hairs
• केशाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: केश
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अद्भुत-दर्शनाः: of wondrous appearance
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अद्भुतदर्शन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Rājendra (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• tasyāḥ/saḥ (an unnamed person being described)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes careful observation and credible testimony in dharma-discourse: Bhīṣma presents distinctive physical signs to identify or characterize an extraordinary person, suggesting that outward marks can function as narrative evidence and as indicators of unusual destiny or nature.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is describing to Yudhiṣṭhira the remarkable physical features of a certain individual—extremely slender-bodied, with striking limbs and hair—highlighting the person’s uncommon appearance as part of the ongoing account in Śānti Parva.