Shloka 22

Devanagari script

न निवर्तितपूर्वश्च कदाचिद्‌ रणमूर्थनि । निवर्त्यतामापगेय: काम॑ युद्धात्‌ पितामहा:

Transliteration

na nivartitapūrvaś ca kadācid raṇamūrdhani | nivartyatām āpageyaḥ kāmaṃ yuddhāt pitāmahaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «Jamais, à aucun moment, il n’a reculé depuis l’avant-garde même du champ de bataille. Qu’ainsi le Grandsire (Bhīṣma) se retire de la guerre comme il lui sied.»

Word by Word

नnot

निवर्तितपूर्वःone who has previously been made to retreat / one who has retreated before

चand

कदाचित्ever / at any time

रणमूर्धनिon the battlefield (lit. on the head/top of battle)

निवर्त्यताम्let (him) be turned back / let (him) be made to retreat

आtowards / indeed (prefix-like particle here)

अपगेयःone who should be led away/withdrawn (fit to be taken away)

कामम्if you please / as you wish / indeed

युद्धात्from the battle

पितामहाःgrandfathers / elders

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha)

Āpageya (person addressed by patronymic)

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?

Steadfastness in one’s duty—especially a warrior’s refusal to abandon the battlefront—is praised; yet the verse also implies that withdrawal from war, when it occurs, should be a conscious, principled decision made under rightful authority, not a lapse of courage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma comments on a warrior’s established record of never retreating from the front lines, and then states that the Grandsire may withdraw from the war if he so chooses—highlighting both the warrior’s reputation and the elder’s discretionary authority in the unfolding conflict.