Shloka 22

Adhyāya 69: Strategic duels under Bhīṣma’s command

Virāṭa–Bhīṣma; Arjuna–Aśvatthāmā; Bhīma–Duryodhana; Abhimanyu–Lakṣmaṇa

Devanagari script

किरीटकौस्तुभधरं मित्राणामभयंकरम्‌ । अवजानम्‌ महात्मानं घोरे तमसि मज्जति,“जो किरीट और कौस्तुभमणि धारण करनेवाले तथा मित्रों (भक्तजनों)-को अभय देनेवाले हैं, उन परमात्माकी अवहेलना करनेवाला मनुष्य घोर नरकमें डूबता है

Transliteration

kirīṭa-kaustubha-dharaṁ mitrāṇām abhayamkaram | avajānann mahātmānaṁ ghore tamasi majjati ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “He who shows contempt for that Supreme Lord—who bears the crown and the Kaustubha jewel, and who grants fearlessness to his friends and devotees—sinks into dreadful darkness, a terrible hell.”

Word by Word

किरीट-कौस्तुभ-धरम्bearing the crown and the Kaustubha jewel

मित्राणाम्of (his) friends/devotees

अभय-करम्granting fearlessness

अवजानन्disregarding / slighting

महात्मानम्the great-souled one

घोरेin dreadful (darkness)

तमसिin darkness

मज्जतिsinks / is immersed

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Mahātmā (the Supreme Lord, i.e., Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)

Kirīṭa (crown)

Kaustubha (jewel)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Reverence toward the Supreme Lord is an ethical and spiritual necessity: to belittle the divine protector who grants fearlessness to devotees leads to moral blindness and ruin, described as sinking into dreadful darkness (hell).

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing by warning about the fate of one who disrespects the Lord identified by royal and divine insignia (crown and Kaustubha). The verse frames Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu as the protector of devotees and contrasts devotion with contempt, emphasizing consequences.