Shloka 22

Devanagari script

आशास्तार: कर्म चाप्युत्तमं ये तन्मे देवा: केवल साधयन्तु | आयालि्विहद्यार्जुन: शत्रुधाती शक्रस्तूर्ण यज्ञ इवोपहूत:

Transliteration

āśāstāraḥ karma cāpy uttamaṃ ye tan me devāḥ kevalaṃ sādhayantu | āyālīha yad arjunaḥ śatrughātī śakras tūrṇaṃ yajña ivopahūtaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīmasena dit : «Que les dieux — ceux qui louent l’action noble et soutiennent les plus hautes œuvres — m’accordent ceci seul : qu’Arjuna, le pourfendeur des ennemis, vienne ici sur-le-champ. Comme Indra se hâte vers le sacrifice lorsqu’il est dûment invoqué, ainsi qu’Arjuna arrive promptement.»

Word by Word

• {'āśāstāraḥ': 'those who praise/commend

• approvers (of right conduct)', 'karma': 'deed, action (often with moral weight)', 'uttamam': 'highest, excellent, noble', 'devāḥ': 'the gods, divine powers', 'kevalam': 'only, solely', 'sādhayantu': 'may they accomplish/bring to completion (optative/benedictive sense)', 'iha': 'here', 'arjunaḥ': 'Arjuna (Pāṇḍava hero, peerless archer)', 'śatrughātī': 'slayer of enemies

• foe-destroying', 'śakraḥ': 'Śakra, i.e., Indra', 'tūrṇam': 'quickly, swiftly', 'yajñaḥ': 'sacrifice, ritual offering', 'iva': 'like, as', 'upahūtaḥ': 'invoked, called upon (especially in ritual context)'}

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīmasena
• Arjuna
• Devas
• Indra (Śakra)
• Yajña (sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames righteous action as something endorsed by higher moral order (“those who praise noble deeds”) and presents prayer/invocation as aligned with dharma: Bhīma seeks not personal gain but the timely arrival of a protector-ally for a just objective in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the Karṇa Parva battle context, Bhīma invokes the gods to bring Arjuna quickly to the scene, comparing Arjuna’s hoped-for swift arrival to Indra’s prompt appearance when summoned to a sacrifice.