Shloka 99

Devanagari script

आज म्मुः सहिता द्रष्टू भीष्मं कुरूपितामहम्‌ | यत्र शेते नरश्रेष्ठ. शरतल्पे पितामह:

Transliteration

adya mumūḥ sahitā draṣṭuṃ bhīṣmaṃ kurūpitām aham | yatra śete naraśreṣṭhaḥ śaratālpe pitāmahaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Today I too shall go, along with the others, to see Bhīṣma—now brought low among the Kurus—there where that best of men, the grandsire, lies upon his bed of arrows.”

Word by Word

• अद्य: today/now
• अद्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य
• Form: Avyaya (time adverb)

• वयम्: we
• वयम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Pronoun; masculine/feminine/neuter; nominative; plural

• सहिता: together/assembled
• सहिता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहित
• Form: Past passive participle (from √सह); feminine; nominative; singular (agreeing with implied feminine collective/army or as predicate adjective in context)

• द्रष्टुम्: to see
• द्रष्टुम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दृश्
• Form: Infinitive (tumun)

• भीष्मम्: Bhishma
• भीष्मम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्म
• Form: Masculine; accusative; singular

• कुरूपिताम्: disfigured/made ugly
• कुरूपिताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कुरूपित
• Form: Past passive participle (from causative of √रूप/√रुप् with prefix कु-); feminine; accusative; singular (agreeing with implied feminine object, e.g., सेनाम्/स्थितिम्, context-dependent)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Pronoun; masculine/feminine/neuter; nominative; singular

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र
• Form: Avyaya (relative adverb of place)

• शेते: lies/reclines
• शेते: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: √शी
• Form: Present tense; 3rd person; singular; Ātmanepada

• नरश्रेष्ठः: the best of men
• नरश्रेष्ठः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरश्रेष्ठ
• Form: Masculine; nominative; singular

• शरतल्पे: on a bed of arrows
• शरतल्पे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरतल्प
• Form: Masculine/Neuter; locative; singular

• पितामहः: the grandsire (Bhishma)
• पितामहः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह
• Form: Masculine; nominative; singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīṣma
• Kuru(s)
• śaratālpa (bed of arrows)
• pitāmaha (the grandsire)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid war’s harsh outcomes, dharma requires maintaining reverence and moral attention toward the fallen—especially elders and exemplars like Bhīṣma—recognizing both the cost of conflict and the dignity of those who upheld their vows.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya states that he will go with others to see Bhīṣma, who lies wounded on a bed of arrows. The scene marks a shift from battlefield action to witnessing Bhīṣma’s condition and the gravity of the war’s consequences.