Shloka 62

Devanagari script

यथा चक्र तु कौलालो दण्डविद्धं तु भारत । सहैव भूरिश्रवसो बाहुना केशधारिणा,भारत! जैसे कुम्हार छेदमें डंडा डालकर अपनी चाकको घुमाता है, उसी प्रकार केश पकड़े हुए भूरिश्रवाके बाँहके साथ ही सात्यकि अपने सिरको घुमाने लगे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | yathā cakra tu kaulālo daṇḍaviddhaṃ tu bhārata | sahaiva bhūriśravaso bāhunā keśadhāriṇā ||

Translation

Sanjaya said: “O Bhārata, just as a potter spins his wheel by inserting a stick into its socket, so did Sātyaki whirl about, still holding Bhūriśravas’s arm together with the lock of hair he had seized.”

Word by Word

यथाas, just as

चक्रdid, made, caused

तुbut, indeed

कौलालःpotter

दण्डविद्धम्pierced by a stick/rod

तुindeed

भारतO Bharata

सहtogether with

एवindeed, just

भूरिश्रवसःof Bhūriśravas

बाहुनाwith the arm

केशधारिणाholding the hair (hair-grasping)

भारतO Bharata

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Dhritarashtra (addressed as Bhārata)

Bhūrīśravas

Sātyaki

potter

potter’s wheel

stick/rod

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?

The verse uses a vivid simile to show how, in war, physical force and momentum can reduce a warrior to being ‘spun’ like an object—highlighting the dehumanizing intensity of battle and implicitly raising questions about restraint and proper conduct (dharma) amid violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes Sātyaki’s action: after seizing Bhūrīśravas by the hair, he whirls him around, likening the motion to a potter spinning a wheel by inserting a stick into its socket.