Shloka 21

Devanagari script

उक्त भीष्मेण यद्‌ वाक्‍्यं हितं तथ्यं च माधव । तच्चापि नासौ कृतवान्‌ वीतबुद्धिः सुयोधन:

Transliteration

uktaṃ bhīṣmeṇa yad vākyaṃ hitaṃ tathyaṃ ca mādhava | taccāpi nāsau kṛtavān vītabuddhiḥ suyodhanaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Wahai Mādhava, nasihat Bhīṣma yang bermanfaat dan benar itu pun tidak dijalankan oleh Suyodhana yang telah kehilangan pertimbangan.”

Word by Word

उक्तम्spoken, said

भीष्मेणby Bhishma

यत्which

वाक्यम्speech, statement

हितम्beneficial

तथ्यम्true, factual

चand

माधवO Madhava (Krishna)

तत्that

चalso/and

अपिalso, even

नnot

असौthat man (he)

कृतवान्did, carried out

वीतबुद्धिःone whose understanding is gone (bewildered)

सुयोधनःSuyodhana (Duryodhana)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

भ

भीष्म (Bhīṣma)

म

माधव (Mādhava/Kṛṣṇa)

स

सुयोधन (Suyodhana/Duryodhana)

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?

Even truthful and welfare-oriented counsel fails when a leader’s discernment is lost; ignoring wise advice out of pride or delusion leads to ruin, especially in matters of dharma and war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya addresses Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava) and remarks that Duryodhana (Suyodhana), having lost good judgment, did not act upon Bhīṣma’s beneficial and truthful counsel—highlighting the Kaurava’s obstinacy amid the war context.