Shloka 15

धृतराष्ट्रस्य स्पर्शाभिलाषः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Request for Touch and Permission for Tapas

Devanagari script

अथोपपत्त्या शकटं पद्मवज्॑ च भारत | उशना वेद यच्छास्त्र तत्रैतद्‌ विहितं विभो

Transliteration

athopapattyā śakaṭaṃ padmavajraṃ ca bhārata | uśanā veda yacchāstraṃ tatraitad vihitaṃ vibho ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra sprach: „Darum, o Bhārata, soll man zur Zeit der Schlacht mit klarem Urteil und Strategie das Heer in der Śakaṭa- (Wagen-), Padma- (Lotus-) oder Vajra- (Donnerkeil-)Formation aufstellen. O Mächtiger, in der Lehrschrift, die Uśanā (Śukrācārya) kennt, ist genau dieses Verfahren vorgeschrieben.“

Word by Word

• {'atha': 'then, therefore', 'upapattyā': 'by reasoning

• through strategic justification', 'śakaṭam': 'the ‘cart’ battle-formation (vyūha)', 'padma': 'the ‘lotus’ battle-formation (vyūha)', 'vajram': 'the ‘thunderbolt/diamond’ battle-formation (vyūha)', 'bhārata': 'O descendant of Bharata (address to a Kuru prince)', 'uśanā': 'Uśanā/Śukra (Śukrācārya), preceptor associated with polity and strategy', 'veda': 'knows

• is versed in', 'śāstram': 'treatise

• authoritative manual (esp. on polity/war-strategy)', 'tatra': 'therein

• in that (treatise)', 'etat': 'this (very rule/procedure)', 'vihitam': 'enjoined

• prescribed', 'vibho': 'O mighty one

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Bhārata (Kuru addressee)
• Uśanā (Śukrācārya)
• Śakaṭa-vyūha
• Padma-vyūha
• Vajra-vyūha
• Śāstra (treatise on strategy)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Strategic action in warfare should be grounded in rational planning (upapatti) and guided by established authoritative knowledge (śāstra), here exemplified by Uśanā’s teachings on arranging troops in recognized vyūhas.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra is giving counsel about battlefield organization, recommending specific troop-formations—Śakaṭa, Padma, and Vajra—and legitimizing this advice by citing the strategic śāstra associated with Uśanā (Śukrācārya).