Shloka 30

उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः

Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment

Devanagari script

अनीकं ये विभिन्‍न्दन्ति भिन्न संस्थापयन्ति च । समानाशनपानास्ते कार्या: द्विगुणवेतना:

Transliteration

anīkaṃ ye vibhinndanti bhinnaṃ saṃsthāpayanti ca | samānāśanapānās te kāryā dvi-guṇa-vetanāḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma dit : Ceux qui savent briser le dispositif de bataille de l’ennemi et qui, lorsque les siens ont été dispersés, peuvent les réorganiser et les rétablir solidement, le roi doit les honorer en leur accordant les mêmes vivres et boissons qu’à lui-même, et les employer avec une solde double. Le point éthique est que le courage d’exception et l’aptitude à rétablir l’ordre dans la crise sont des biens publics en temps de guerre et méritent une reconnaissance concrète, non de simples louanges.

Word by Word

• {'anīkam': 'battle-array

• military front', 'ye': 'those who', 'vibhinndanti (vibhindanti)': 'split, pierce, break apart (especially an enemy formation)', 'bhinnaṃ': 'broken, scattered, disordered', 'saṃsthāpayanti': 'set in place again

• reorganize', 'ca': 'and', 'samāna-āśana-pānāḥ': 'having equal food and drink (i.e., granted the same rations/privileges as the king)', 'te': 'they

• those men', 'kāryāḥ': 'should be appointed/engaged

• should be made to serve (in office/service)', 'dvi-guṇa-vetanāḥ': 'with double wages

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• king (rājā, implied)
• enemy army (śatru-senā, implied)
• one's own army (sva-senā, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A king should materially reward and honor those rare commanders or warriors who can both shatter the enemy’s formation and restore one’s own scattered troops; such crisis-leadership merits equal privileges and double wages.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on rāja-dharma, he advises Yudhishthira on how to manage and incentivize capable military personnel—specifically those who can break enemy ranks and re-form disordered friendly forces.