Shloka 19

शूरलक्षणवर्णनम् | Marks and Typologies of Martial Temperament

Devanagari script

त्यक्तात्मान: सर्व एते अन्त्यजा हानिवर्तिन: । पुरस्कार्या: सदा सैन्ये हन्यन्ते घ्नन्ति चापि ये

Transliteration

tyaktātmānaḥ sarva ete antyajā hānivartinaḥ | puraskāryāḥ sadā sainye hanyante ghnanti cāpi ye ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „All diese Männer haben sich selbst aufgegeben und gehören zur niedrigsten Art; sie wenden sich vom Heilsamen ab. Und doch stellt man sie im Heer stets an die Spitze: Sie werden erschlagen, und sie erschlagen auch.“

Word by Word

त्यक्तात्मानःthose who have abandoned themselves (self-abandoned)

सर्वेall

एतेthese

अन्त्यजाःoutcastes; those born in the last (lowest) class

हानिवर्तिनःmoving towards loss; tending to ruin

पुरस्कार्याःto be put in front; to be advanced/placed at the fore

सदाalways

सैन्येin the army

हन्यन्तेare killed

घ्नन्तिkill

चand

अपिalso; even

येwho

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

sainya (army)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma highlights a grim ethical reality of warfare: those lacking self-restraint and sound judgment are often pushed to the front lines, where they both inflict and suffer violence. The verse critiques reckless dispositions and the way armies instrumentalize such people.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and statecraft after the war. Here he comments on the character of certain fighters in an army—men deemed morally degraded and self-abandoning—who are nevertheless deployed in the vanguard and become agents and victims of killing.