Shloka 41

ध्वजवर्णनम् | Dhvaja-varṇanam

Description of War Standards

Devanagari script

सर्वोपायैर्यतिष्यामि यथा बीभत्सुराहवे

Transliteration

sarvopāyair yatiṣyāmi yathā bībhatsur āhave

Translation

संजय बोले—मैं हर उपाय से प्रयत्न करूँगा, जिससे रणभूमि में बीभत्सु (अर्जुन) के साथ वैसा ही किया जा सके जैसा अभिप्रेत है।

Word by Word

• सर्वोपायैः: by all means/expedients
• सर्वोपायैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वोपाय
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• यतिष्यामि: I will strive/endeavor
• यतिष्यामि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: यत् (यतते)
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), First, Singular, Parasmaipada

• यथा: so that/as
• यथा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• बीभत्सुः: Bībhatsu (Arjuna)
• बीभत्सुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बीभत्सु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• आहवे: in battle
• आहवे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आहव
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bībhatsu (Arjuna)
• āhava (battlefield/war)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line highlights determined effort and strategic resolve in war, while implicitly raising an ethical tension: even when one vows to use “all means,” the Mahābhārata repeatedly questions which means remain within dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a speaker’s intention to employ every available tactic on the battlefield with reference to Arjuna (Bībhatsu), indicating an intensification of plans and counter-plans in the Drona Parva war episodes.