Shloka 13

Devanagari script

गम्भीराक्षा नि:सृताक्षा: पिड्ाक्षा भ्रुकुटीमुखा: । नकुलाक्षास्तथा चैव सर्वे शूरास्तनुत्यज:,जिनकी आँखें गहरी हैं अथवा बड़ी होनेके कारण निकली हुई-सी प्रतीत होती हैं या जिनके नेत्र पिंगलवर्णके हैं अथवा जिनकी आँखें नेवलेके समान भूरी-भूरी हैं और जिनके मुखपर भौंहें तनी रहती हैं, ऐसे लक्षणोंवाले सभी मनुष्य शूरवीर तथा रणभूमिमें शरीरका त्याग करनेवाले होते हैं

Transliteration

gambhīrākṣā niḥsṛtākṣāḥ piṅgākṣā bhrukuṭīmukhāḥ | nakulākṣās tathā caiva sarve śūrās tanutyajaḥ ||

Translation

Dijo Bhīṣma: Los hombres de ojos hundidos, o que por su gran tamaño parecen saltones; de ojos leonados; de rostro marcado por cejas fruncidas; y asimismo aquellos cuyos ojos son pardos como los de una mangosta—todos los que llevan tales señales son valientes por naturaleza y de los que entregan el cuerpo en el campo de batalla.

Word by Word

गम्भीराक्षाःthose having deep eyes

निःसृताक्षाःthose with protruding/started-out eyes

पिङ्गलाक्षाःthose with tawny/brownish eyes

भ्रुकुटीमुखाःthose whose face is with knitted brows (frowning-faced)

नकुलाक्षाःthose with mongoose-like eyes

तथाthus/likewise

चand

एवindeed/just

सर्वेall

शूराःheroes/valiant men

तनुत्यजःthose who give up the body (die, esp. in battle)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

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?

Bhīṣma presents a traditional physiognomic observation: certain bodily features—especially types of eyes and a tense, knitted-brow expression—are taken as indicators of innate courage and a disposition to die fighting. The ethical frame is the kṣatriya ideal of fearlessness and readiness to sacrifice one’s life in righteous battle.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and related disciplines. Here he is describing characteristic marks (lakṣaṇas) by which one may recognize men inclined toward heroism and battlefield self-sacrifice.