Shloka 22

भीष्म–रामजामदग्न्ययुद्धप्रस्थानवर्णनम्

Bhishma’s Account of Parashurama’s Challenge and the March to Kurukshetra

Devanagari script

ततस्ते सूदिता: सर्वे मम बाणा: सुसंशिता: । रामबाणैदविधा छिन्ना: शतशो5थ सहसत्रश:,इस प्रकार मेरे चलाये हुए वे सब सैकड़ों और हजारों तीखे बाण परशुरामजीके सायकोंसे कटकर दो-दो टूक हो नष्ट हो गये

Transliteration

tataste sūditāḥ sarve mama bāṇāḥ su-saṃśitāḥ | rāma-bāṇair dvidhā chinnāḥ śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sagte: „Dann wurden all meine scharf geschliffenen Pfeile, sobald sie abgeschossen waren, von Rāmas Geschossen getroffen und in zwei Teile gespalten—zu Hunderten, ja zu Tausenden—sodass sie nutzlos wurden.“ Im ethischen Rahmen der Episode zeigt der Vers, wie reine Kampfkunst und Disziplin Angriffskraft ohne übermäßige Grausamkeit neutralisieren können und selbst unter gerechten Kriegern eine Rangordnung der Meisterschaft offenbaren.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

तेthose (they)

सूदिताःdriven/impelled, shot forth

सर्वेall

ममmy

बाणाःarrows

सुसंशिताःwell-sharpened

रामबाणैःby Rāma's (Paraśurāma's) arrows

द्विधाin two, into two parts

छिन्नाःwere cut

शतशःby hundreds, in hundreds

अथand then/indeed

सहस्रशःby thousands, in thousands

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Rāma (Paraśurāma)

arrows (bāṇa)

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?

Even formidable force can be checked by superior mastery and disciplined technique; true martial excellence includes the capacity to neutralize harm efficiently rather than merely inflict it.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma recounts that the arrows he released were intercepted by Paraśurāma (called Rāma here), whose shafts cut Bhīṣma’s arrows into two, in vast numbers, rendering them ineffective.