Shloka 213

भीमसेन-धृष्टद्युम्नयोर्वाक्यं

Bhīmasena and Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s Speeches on Kṣātra-Dharma

Devanagari script

व्यकाशत महाराज श्वाविच्छललतो यथा । महाराज! अभ्रृत्थामाद्वारा उन बाणोंसे बिंधा हुआ वह राक्षस काँटोंसे भरे हुए साहीके समान सुशोभित हो रहा था

Transliteration

vyakāśata mahārāja śvāvicchalalato yathā | mahārāja abhr̥tthāmādvārā un bāṇoṃse bindhā huā sa rākṣasaḥ kāṇṭaiḥ bhare hue sāhīke samāna suśobhita ho rahā thā |

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, he shone like a porcupine bristling with quills. Pierced all over by those arrows, that rākṣasa looked fearsome—his very wounds becoming a grim ornament of the battlefield, revealing the terrible cost and relentless momentum of war.

Word by Word

• व्यकाशत: shone, appeared splendid
• व्यकाशत: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि+काश्
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• महाराज: O great king
• महाराज: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• श्वाविच्छललतः: from/than a porcupine (lit. shvavi-...; porcupine-like animal)
• श्वाविच्छललतः: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्वाविच्छललत
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• यथा: as, like
• यथा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Mahārāja)
• rākṣasa
• arrows
• porcupine (simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the grim paradox of war: even extreme injury can be described as 'splendor' through poetic simile, reminding the listener that battlefield glory is inseparable from suffering and destruction, and that ethical reflection must accompany narratives of martial prowess.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a rākṣasa on the battlefield who, having been pierced by many arrows, appears bristling like a porcupine—an image emphasizing the intensity of the fighting and the extent of the wounds.