Shloka 18

Devanagari script

बद्धश्च॒ वारुणै: पाशैर्वजेण च समाहत: । हृतदारो हृतधनो ब्रूहि कस्मान्न शोचसि

Transliteration

baddhaś ca vāruṇaiḥ pāśair vajreṇa ca samāhataḥ | hṛtadāro hṛtadhano brūhi kasmān na śocasi ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Bound fast with Varuṇa’s nooses and struck down by the thunderbolt; deprived of wife and deprived of wealth—tell me, for what reason do you not grieve?”

Word by Word

बद्धःbound

चand

वारुणैःwith Varuṇa’s / watery

पाशैःwith nooses/bonds

वज्रेणwith a thunderbolt/weapon

चand

समाहतःstruck/smitten

हृतदारःwhose wife has been taken away

हृतधनःwhose wealth has been taken away

ब्रूहिtell (me)

कस्मात्from what cause?/why

नnot

शोचसिyou grieve

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Varuṇa

Varuṇa’s pāśa (noose)

Vajra (Indra’s thunderbolt)

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 frames a moral-psychological inquiry: even when one is overwhelmed by external losses (bondage, injury, loss of spouse and wealth), the wise may remain unshaken. Bhīṣma’s question invites reflection on the grounds of non-grief—discrimination between what is truly ‘self’ and what is contingent, and the cultivation of steadiness amid misfortune.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses a person described as severely afflicted—bound by Varuṇa’s nooses and struck by the vajra, and also deprived of spouse and wealth. Observing that such a person nevertheless does not lament, Bhīṣma asks for the reason, setting up an explanation about endurance, insight, or dharmic understanding.