Shloka 26

Adhyāya 104 — Śikhaṇḍin-puraskāraḥ (Śikhaṇḍin as Vanguard) and Bhīṣma’s Counter-Advance

Devanagari script

तां चाभिजध्निवान्‌ मायां राक्षसस्य दुरात्मन: । संक्रुद्धश्न महावीर्यों राक्षसेन्द्रं नरोत्तम:

Transliteration

tāṁ cābhijaghnivān māyāṁ rākṣasasya durātmanaḥ | saṁkruddhaś ca mahāvīryo rākṣasendraṁ narottamaḥ ||

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: El mejor de los hombres, grande en valor e inflamado por justa ira, abatió aquella ilusión engañosa conjurada por el rākṣasa de alma perversa, y luego encaró al señor de los rākṣasas.

Word by Word

ताम्that (her/it)

चand

अभिजघ्निवान्having struck / having smitten

मायाम्illusion, magical power

राक्षसस्यof the demon (rakshasa)

दुरात्मनःof the evil-souled (one)

संक्रुद्धःenraged, highly angered

महावीर्यःof great prowess

राक्षसेन्द्रम्the lord of the rakshasas

नरोत्तमःthe best of men

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

न

नरोत्तम (narottamaḥ—foremost man, the hero being described)

र

राक्षस (rākṣasa—demon)

र

राक्षसेन्द्र (rākṣasendra—lord of the rākṣasas)

म

माया (māyā—illusion)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contrasts adharmic deception (māyā) with dharmic valor: a righteous hero does not succumb to trickery but dispels it through clarity, courage, and disciplined force, directing anger toward protection and justice rather than cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the foremost warrior destroys a rākṣasa’s magical illusion and then turns to engage the rākṣasa-king himself, escalating from overcoming deception to confronting its source.