Shloka 303

Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot

Devanagari script

शिखण्डिनं पुरस्कृत्य घातितस्ते पितामह: । “जो प्रतिदिन शूरवीरोंका भारी संहार मचा रहे थे, उन पितामह भीष्मका तुमने शिखण्डीको आगे रखकर वध कराया

Transliteration

śikhaṇḍinaṃ puraskṛtya ghātitas te pitāmahaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Placing Śikhaṇḍin in the forefront, you caused your grandsire to be slain. That very Bhīṣma—who day after day was bringing about a massive slaughter of heroic warriors—was brought down through this stratagem.”

Word by Word

शिखण्डिनम्Shikhaṇḍin (as the one put forward)

पुरस्कृत्यhaving placed in front / having put forward

घातितःwas caused to be slain / was got killed

तेby you

पितामहःthe grandsire (Bhīṣma)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Śikhaṇḍin

Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha)

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 highlights the moral tension between righteous conduct and wartime necessity: even a revered elder who is devastating the battlefield may be stopped through indirect means, prompting reflection on whether ends (ending slaughter) can justify ethically fraught methods.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reminds that Bhīṣma, the grandsire, was brought down by placing Śikhaṇḍin at the front—exploiting Bhīṣma’s refusal to fight Śikhaṇḍin—so that he could be struck and ultimately felled.