Shloka 8
शूरलक्षणवर्णनम् | Marks and Typologies of Martial Temperament
मृगस्वरा द्वीपिनेत्रा ऋषभाक्षास्तरस्विन: । प्रमादिनश्न मन्दाश्ष क्रोधना: किडुकिणीस्वना:
mṛgasvarā dvīpinetrā ṛṣabhākṣās tarasvinaḥ | pramādinaś ca mandāś ca krodhanāḥ kiḍukiṇīsvanāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Those whose voice resembles that of a deer, whose eyes are like a tigress’s, and whose gaze is like a bull’s are typically bold and swift, yet prone to carelessness and dullness of judgment. And those whose throat-sound is sweet like the tinkling of little bells are, by nature, strongly given to anger.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma links outward traits (voice and eyes) with inner dispositions (speed, heedlessness, dullness, anger), urging discernment in judging temperament and in choosing whom to trust or empower—an ethical lesson in careful evaluation and self-restraint.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and practical governance. Here he gives a diagnostic observation about human nature—how certain observable features are traditionally taken as indicators of behavioral tendencies.