Shloka 55

Devanagari script

महर्षयो वेदविद: पितरश्न स्वधाभुज: । तपोविद्यास्तथौषध्यो नानारूपबलान्विता:

Transliteration

maharṣayo vedavidaḥ pitaraś ca svadhābhujaḥ | tapovidyās tathauṣadhyo nānārūpabalānvitāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “There were great seers, masters of the Vedas, and the ancestral Pitṛs who partake of the svadhā-offerings. With them were powers born of austerity and sacred knowledge, and potent herbs as well—endowed with many kinds of strength.”

Word by Word

महर्षयःgreat sages

वेदविदःknowers of the Veda

पितरःthe Fathers (Pitṛs/manes)

चand

स्वधाभुजःeaters/partakers of svadhā (funeral offering)

तपोविद्याःausterities and knowledges (ascetic powers and learning)

तथाlikewise

औषध्यःmedicinal herbs

नानारूपबलान्विताःendowed with powers of various forms

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Maharṣis (great seers)

Vedavids (knowers of the Veda)

Pitṛs (ancestral Fathers)

Svadhā (ancestral offering)

Tapas (austerity-power)

Vidyā (sacred knowledge)

Auṣadhis (potent herbs)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores that beyond human armies, the Mahābhārata’s battlefield is framed as a morally charged arena witnessed and influenced by higher orders—seers, ancestral powers, austerity-born energies, and sacred efficacies—implying that actions in war are accountable to dharma, ritual order, and unseen forces.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the presence or convergence of powerful beings and forces—ṛṣis, Vedic authorities, the Pitṛs who receive svadhā offerings, and various powers of tapas, knowledge, and potent herbs—suggesting an extraordinary, superhuman atmosphere surrounding the events being reported.