Shloka 24

Arjuna–Bhīṣma Strategic Engagement and Mutual Arrow-Interdiction (भीष्मार्जुनसमागमः)

Devanagari script

ततस्ते जातसंरम्भा: परस्परकृतागस: । अन्योन्यस्यर्धया राजन्‌ व्यायच्छन्त महारथा:

Transliteration

tataste jātasaṁrambhāḥ parasparakṛtāgasaḥ | anyonyasyārdhayā rājan vyāyacchanta mahārathāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Da entbrannten jene großen Wagenkämpfer von neuem im Zorn und erinnerten sich der Kränkungen, die sie einander zugefügt hatten. O König, von Rivalität getrieben, mühten sie sich im Kampf mit besonderem Eifer, und jeder suchte den Sieg.

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• जात-संरम्भाः: having arisen fury/impetuosity; enraged
• जात-संरम्भाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जातसंरम्भ
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• परस्पर-कृत-आगसः: having committed mutual offences against each other
• परस्पर-कृत-आगसः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परस्परकृतागस्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• अन्योन्यस्य: of one another
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अन्योन्य
• Form: masculine/neuter, genitive, singular

• अर्धया: with rivalry/competition (lit. with 'half-share', i.e., contention)
• अर्धया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्ध
• Form: feminine, instrumental, singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• व्यायच्छन्त: they strove, exerted themselves
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्य्-यम्
• Form: imperfect, third, plural, parasmaipada

• महारथाः: great chariot-warriors
• महारथाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• mahārathāḥ (great chariot-warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Unresolved past offenses and mutual resentment can rapidly inflame into destructive rivalry; ethical lapses between people, when remembered in a crisis, intensify conflict and drive extreme exertion for domination rather than restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the elite warriors, stirred by recollection of past mutual wrongs, become enraged and, out of competitive hostility, fight with heightened effort to secure victory.