Shloka 14

शूरलक्षणवर्णनम् | Marks and Typologies of Martial Temperament

Devanagari script

जिद्याक्षा: प्रललाटाश्व निर्मासहनवो5डपि च । वज़बाह्वंगुलीचक्रा: कृशा धमनिसंतता:

Transliteration

jidyākṣāḥ pralalāṭāśva-nirmāsa-hanavo 'lpāpi ca | vajra-bāhv-aṅgulī-cakrāḥ kṛśā dhamani-saṃtatāḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : Ceux dont les yeux sont obliques, le front élevé, les mâchoires maigres et presque sans chair ; dont les bras portent la marque du « vajra » et les doigts celle du « cakra » ; et dont le corps est si décharné que le réseau des veines s’y dessine—de tels hommes, dès que le combat s’engage, se ruent à grande vitesse dans les rangs ennemis et deviennent aussi difficiles à vaincre que des éléphants pris de folie.

Word by Word

• जिद्याक्षाः: having oblique/squinting eyes
• जिद्याक्षाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जिद्याक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रललाटाः: having prominent/high foreheads
• प्रललाटाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रललाट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अश्वनिर्मासहनवः: having horse-like, fleshless jaws/chins
• अश्वनिर्मासहनवः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अश्व-निर्मास-हनु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• उडपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उडपि (अव्यय)

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)

• वज्रबाह्वङ्गुलीचक्राः: having vajra-marked arms and wheel-marked fingers
• वज्रबाह्वङ्गुलीचक्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वज्र-बाहु-अङ्गुली-चक्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कृशाः: lean/thin
• कृशाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• धमनिसंतताः: with veins spread/visible (vein-stretched)
• धमनिसंतताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धमनि-संतत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• vajra (thunderbolt mark)
• cakra (discus mark)
• enemy army (implicit)
• maddened elephants (simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents an epic ideal where a warrior’s bodily signs and bearing are read as indicators of irresistible courage and battlefield efficacy, reinforcing the Kṣatriya ethic of decisive, forceful engagement in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is describing a type of formidable fighter: lean, sinewy men marked with auspicious/terrifying signs (vajra and cakra) who, as soon as combat begins, surge into enemy formations and prove extremely difficult to defeat.