Shloka 3

Devanagari script

सहस्रभुजभच्छीमान्‌ कार्तवीर्यो5भवत्‌ प्रभु: । अस्य लोकस्य सर्वस्य माहिष्मत्यां महाबल:

Transliteration

sahasrabhuja-bhacchīmān kārtavīryo 'bhavat prabhuḥ | asya lokasya sarvasya māhiṣmatyāṃ mahābalaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma said: In ancient times there arose a sovereign named Kārtavīrya—radiant and famed as the thousand-armed—who, mighty in strength, ruled from Māhiṣmatī and held dominion over this entire world.

Word by Word

• {'sahasra': 'a thousand', 'bhuja': 'arm

• forearm (symbol of strength and capacity)', 'sahasrabhuja': 'thousand-armed (epithet indicating superhuman might)', 'bhacchīmān (≈ bhāśīmān/bhāsamāna)': 'radiant, shining, splendid (textual form varies by edition)', 'kārtavīryaḥ': 'Kārtavīrya (name of the king

• commonly Kārtavīrya Arjuna)', 'abhavat': 'became

• was', 'prabhuḥ': 'lord, sovereign, master', 'asya': 'of this', 'loka': 'world

• people', 'sarvasya': 'of all

• entire', 'māhiṣmatyām': 'in Māhiṣmatī (locative

• the capital city)', 'mahābalaḥ': 'of great strength

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Kārtavīrya (Kārtavīrya Arjuna)
• Māhiṣmatī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse introduces an idealized image of sovereign power—radiance, immense strength, and universal dominion—implicitly pointing to the dharmic burden of such power: a ruler’s might is meaningful when it supports orderly governance and protection of the whole realm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma begins an ancient account by presenting Kārtavīrya as a mighty Haihaya ruler based in Māhiṣmatī, renowned as ‘thousand-armed,’ who exercised overarching authority across the world.