Shloka 47
Adhyāya 111 (Book 6): Daśama-dina-saṃgrāma—Bhīṣma’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira and the Śikhaṇḍin-Led Advance
पाण्डवानां प्रियं कुर्वन्नात्मनश्न नरोत्तम | अद्य त्वां योधयिष्यामि रणे पुरुषसत्तम,“नरश्रेष्ठ) पुरुषप्रवर! आज पाण्डवोंका और अपना भी प्रिय करनेके लिये रणक्षेत्रमें खूब डटकर आपका सामना करूँगा
pāṇḍavānāṃ priyaṃ kurvann ātmanaś ca narottama | adya tvāṃ yodhayīṣyāmi raṇe puruṣasattama ||
Sañjaya said: “O best of men, seeking to do what is dear to the Pāṇḍavas—and also to myself—today, O foremost among warriors, I shall engage you in battle on the field.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames combat as a deliberate act tied to allegiance and perceived duty: the speaker declares readiness to confront a superior opponent, presenting the battle not as mere aggression but as an attempt to fulfill what is considered beneficial to one’s side and consistent with one’s own resolve.
In Sañjaya’s report of the Kurukṣetra events, a warrior addresses a renowned opponent with honorific epithets and announces that, on that day, he will meet him in battle—motivated by the aim of pleasing/benefiting the Pāṇḍavas and himself.