Shloka 246

भीष्मस्य अप्रतिमपराक्रमः — शिखण्डिपुरस्कृतः प्रहारः

Bhīṣma’s unmatched momentum and the assault with Śikhaṇḍin in the lead

Devanagari script

अवारयन्त संहृष्टास्तावका: पुरुषर्षभा: । युद्धमें प्रलयकालीन जलप्रवाहके समान आते हुए उन वीरोंको आपकी सेनाके श्रेष्ठ पुरुषोंने हर्ष और उत्साहमें भरकर रोका

Transliteration

avārayanta saṁhṛṣṭās tāvakāḥ puruṣarṣabhāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Your foremost warriors, exhilarated and full of ardor, checked those heroes as they surged forward—like torrents of water rushing in at the time of cosmic dissolution. The image underscores the war’s apocalyptic intensity, while also highlighting disciplined resistance and coordinated duty within the army.

Word by Word

• अवारयन्त: they restrained / checked
• अवारयन्त: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वारय् (√वृ, caus.)
• Form: लङ् (imperfect), परस्मैपद, 3, plural

• संहृष्टाः: delighted, exhilarated
• संहृष्टाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संहृष्ट (from √हृष्)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• तावकाः: your (men), belonging to you
• तावकाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तावक
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• पुरुषर्षभाः: bulls among men; best of men
• पुरुषर्षभाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष-ऋषभ
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• tāvakāḥ (Kaurava forces)
• puruṣarṣabhāḥ (elite warriors)
• pralaya-kālīna jalapravāha (deluge at dissolution, as a simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes disciplined valor: even amid overwhelming, near-apocalyptic momentum, trained warriors fulfill their role by holding the line. Ethically, it highlights steadiness and coordinated duty (svadharma in a martial context), rather than uncontrolled fury.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the Kaurava side’s best fighters, energized and confident, stopped the oncoming heroes whose advance is compared to a pralaya-like flood—conveying the ferocity and scale of the clash.