Shloka 22

Devanagari script

आशास्तार: कर्म चाप्युत्तमं ये तन्मे देवा: केवल साधयन्तु | आयालि्विहद्यार्जुन: शत्रुधाती शक्रस्तूर्ण यज्ञ इवोपहूत:,जो उत्तम कर्मोका उपदेश देनेवाले हैं, वे देवता-लोग मेरा केवल एक कार्य सिद्ध कर दें। जैसे यज्ञमें आवाहन करनेपर इन्द्रदेव तुरंत पदार्पण करते हैं, उसी प्रकार शत्रुघाती अर्जुन यहाँ शीघ्र ही आ पहुँचे

Transliteration

āśāstāraḥ karma cāpy uttamaṃ ye tan me devāḥ kevalaṃ sādhayantu | āyālīha yad arjunaḥ śatrughātī śakras tūrṇaṃ yajña ivopahūtaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīmasena said: “May the gods—those who commend noble action and uphold the highest deeds—grant me just this one fulfillment: let Arjuna, the slayer of foes, come here at once. As Indra hastens to a sacrifice when duly invoked, so may Arjuna swiftly arrive.”

Word by Word

• {'āśāstāraḥ': 'those who praise/commend

• approvers (of right conduct)', 'karma': 'deed, action (often with moral weight)', 'uttamam': 'highest, excellent, noble', 'devāḥ': 'the gods, divine powers', 'kevalam': 'only, solely', 'sādhayantu': 'may they accomplish/bring to completion (optative/benedictive sense)', 'iha': 'here', 'arjunaḥ': 'Arjuna (Pāṇḍava hero, peerless archer)', 'śatrughātī': 'slayer of enemies

• foe-destroying', 'śakraḥ': 'Śakra, i.e., Indra', 'tūrṇam': 'quickly, swiftly', 'yajñaḥ': 'sacrifice, ritual offering', 'iva': 'like, as', 'upahūtaḥ': 'invoked, called upon (especially in ritual context)'}

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīmasena
• Arjuna
• Devas
• Indra (Śakra)
• Yajña (sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames righteous action as something endorsed by higher moral order (“those who praise noble deeds”) and presents prayer/invocation as aligned with dharma: Bhīma seeks not personal gain but the timely arrival of a protector-ally for a just objective in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the Karṇa Parva battle context, Bhīma invokes the gods to bring Arjuna quickly to the scene, comparing Arjuna’s hoped-for swift arrival to Indra’s prompt appearance when summoned to a sacrifice.