Shloka 3

Adhyāya 104 — Śikhaṇḍin-puraskāraḥ (Śikhaṇḍin as Vanguard) and Bhīṣma’s Counter-Advance

Devanagari script

धनंजयश्न किं चक्रे मम सैन्येषु संयुगे । भीमो वा रथिनां श्रेष्ठो राक्षमो वा घटोत्कच:,उस युद्धके मैदानमें अर्जुनने मेरी सेनाओंके साथ क्या किया? रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ भीमसेन अथवा राक्षस घटोत्कच या नकुल-सहदेव एवं महारथी सात्यकिने क्या किया? संजय! यह सब मुझे यथार्थरूपसे बताओ; क्योंकि तुम इन बातोंके बतानेमें कुशल हो

Transliteration

dhanañjayaś ca kiṁ cakre mama sainyeṣu saṁyuge | bhīmo vā rathināṁ śreṣṭho rākṣaso vā ghaṭotkacaḥ ||

Translation

Dhritarashtra said: “What did Dhananjaya (Arjuna) do to my forces in the clash of battle? And what did Bhima—foremost among chariot-warriors—or the rakshasa Ghatotkaca do?”

Word by Word

• {'dhanañjayaḥ': 'Dhanañjaya

• Arjuna (conqueror of wealth, epithet of Arjuna)', 'ca': 'and', 'kim': 'what?', 'cakre': 'did

• performed (aorist/perfect sense: ‘what did he do?’)', 'mama': 'my', 'sainyeṣu': 'among the armies/forces

• in the troops (locative plural)', 'saṁyuge': 'in battle

• in the encounter (locative singular)', 'bhīmaḥ': 'Bhīma (Bhīmasena)', 'vā': 'or', 'rathinām': 'of chariot-warriors', 'śreṣṭhaḥ': 'best

• foremost', 'rākṣasaḥ': 'rākṣasa

• a demon/ogre (here: a rākṣasa warrior)', 'ghaṭotkacaḥ': 'Ghaṭotkaca (son of Bhīma, rākṣasa hero)'}

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Dhanañjaya (Arjuna)
• Bhīma
• Ghaṭotkaca
• Kaurava army (mama sainya)
• battlefield (saṁyuga)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how attachment and fear shape perception: Dhṛtarāṣṭra, identifying the army as “mine,” anxiously seeks news of the opposing heroes’ actions. It implicitly contrasts possessive, partisan concern with the broader ethical stakes of the war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra questions Sañjaya about the battle, specifically asking what Arjuna did to the Kaurava forces and what deeds were performed by Bhīma and the rākṣasa Ghaṭotkaca—key Pāṇḍava champions whose actions could decisively affect the fight.