Shloka 10

Devanagari script

राजानश्न समाहूता: पृथिव्यां भरतर्षभ । अम्बा ज्येष्ठाभवत्‌ तासामम्बिका त्वथ मध्यमा,भरतश्रेष्ठ! राजेन्द्र! उन तीनोंके स्वयंवरके लिये भूमण्डलके सम्पूर्ण नरेश आमन्त्रित किये गये थे। उनमें अम्बा सबसे बड़ी थी, अम्बिका मझली थी और राजकन्या अम्बालिका सबसे छोटी थी। स्वयंवरका समाचार पाकर मैं एक ही रथके द्वारा काशिराजके नगरमें गया

Transliteration

rājānaḥ samāhūtāḥ pṛthivyāṃ bharatarṣabha | ambā jyeṣṭhābhavat tāsām ambikā tv atha madhyamā ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “O bull among the Bharatas, the kings of the whole earth had been invited for the svayaṃvara. Among those princesses, Ambā was the eldest, Ambikā the middle one.”

Word by Word

राजानःkings

चand

समाहूताःinvited/summoned

पृथिव्याम्on the earth

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

अम्बाAmba

ज्येष्ठाeldest

अभवत्was/became

तासाम्of them (of those women)

अम्बिकाAmbika

तुbut/indeed

अथthen/and now

मध्यमाmiddle (the second)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Bharatarṣabha (addressed listener, traditionally Dhṛtarāṣṭra in Udyoga Parva narration)

Ambā

Ambikā

Pṛthivī (the earth/world)

Rājānaḥ (kings)

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 how public royal rites like svayaṃvara operate within dharma and political order: personal relationships are embedded in social duty, and choices made in such settings can carry far-reaching ethical consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma begins recounting the Kāśī princesses’ svayaṃvara: kings from across the earth were invited, and he identifies the sisters by age—Ambā as eldest and Ambikā as the middle—preparing for the events that follow.