Shloka 12

Adhyāya 35 — Bhīmasena’s Counter-Encirclement and the Karṇa Engagement Escalation

Devanagari script

तावेकरथमारूढावादित्याग्निसमत्विषौ

Transliteration

tāvekārathamārūḍhāvādityāgnisamatviṣau

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Jene beiden, gemeinsam auf einen einzigen Streitwagen gestiegen, loderten in einem Glanz, der Sonne und Feuer glich—ein Bild verdichteter Kriegsmacht, während sich die moralischen und strategischen Spannungen der Schlacht zuspitzten.

Word by Word

• तौ: those two
• तौ: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• एक-रथम्: one chariot (the same chariot)
• एक-रथम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: एक + रथ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आरूढौ: having mounted / seated upon
• आरूढौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-रुह्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• आदित्य-अग्नि-सम-त्विषौ: whose splendor was equal to the sun and fire
• आदित्य-अग्नि-सम-त्विषौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आदित्य + अग्नि + सम + त्विष्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• एकरथ (single chariot)
• आदित्य (Sun)
• अग्नि (Fire)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how outward brilliance and martial might can intensify the ethical stakes of war: dazzling power is not itself dharma, but it heightens the urgency to discern right action amid violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two warriors riding together on one chariot, portrayed as shining like the sun and fire—an epic visual cue that a formidable, climactic encounter is unfolding.