Shloka 376

Devanagari script

स तथा कुरु गाड्गेय यथा हन्येत फाल्गुन: । 'प्रजानाथ! आपहीके कारण कर्णने भी हथियार डाल दिया है और वह रणभूमिमें अर्जुनसे युद्ध नहीं कर रहा है। कर्ण मेरा सदा हित चाहनेवाला है। गंगानन्दन! आप ऐसा प्रयत्न कीजिये, जिससे अर्जुन मार डाले जाये

Transliteration

sa tathā kuru gāṅgeya yathā hanyeta phālgunaḥ |

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: «Oh descendiente del Gaṅgā (Bhīṣma), obra de tal modo que Phālguna (Arjuna) sea abatido». Estas palabras revelan la apremiante exhortación del bando Kaurava, que en la guerra antepone el desenlace a toda vacilación ética y fija la mira en eliminar la mayor amenaza.

Word by Word

सःhe

तथाthus, in that manner

कुरुdo (you), act

गाड्गेयO son of Ganga (Bhishma)

यथाso that, in such a way that

हन्येतmay be slain / might be killed

फाल्गुनःPhalguna (Arjuna)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīṣma (Gāṅgeya)

Arjuna (Phālguna)

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 line highlights how, in the pressure of war, counsel can become narrowly goal-oriented—urging decisive action against a key opponent—raising ethical tension between strategic necessity and the broader demands of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports an exhortation addressed to Bhīṣma (Gāṅgeya): he is urged to act so that Arjuna (Phālguna), the Pandava champion, may be killed—reflecting the Kaurava camp’s anxiety about Arjuna’s dominance on the battlefield.