Shloka 6

अर्जुनस्य गुरुधर्मविलापः तथा शैनेयकर्णयोर्युद्धारम्भः | Arjuna’s Lament on Guru-Dharma and the Opening of the Sātyaki–Karṇa Duel

Devanagari script

वृषभस्कन्धविक्रान्तो वृषभाक्षो नरर्षभ: । तावकानां बभौ मध्ये गवां मध्ये यथा वृष:

Transliteration

vṛṣabhaskandhavikrānto vṛṣabhākṣo nararṣabhaḥ | tāvakānāṃ babhau madhye gavāṃ madhye yathā vṛṣaḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。雄牛の肩のごとき剛力を備え、雄牛の眼を持つ人中の雄は、汝の軍勢のただ中でひときわ輝いた――雌牛の群れの中に立つ一頭の雄牛のように。

Word by Word

वृषभस्कन्धविक्रान्तःhe whose prowess is like a bull-shouldered one / having bull-like shoulders and stride

वृषभाक्षःbull-eyed (having eyes like a bull)

नरर्षभःbull among men; best of men

तावकानाम्of your (Kaurava) men

बभौshone; appeared splendid

मध्येin the midst

गवाम्of cows; of cattle

मध्येin the midst

यथाas; like

वृषःa bull

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

tāvakāḥ (the Kaurava forces)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how extraordinary prowess stands out unmistakably in a crowd: true strength and leadership become visible through presence and action, especially in the moral pressure-cooker of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a foremost warrior on the Kaurava side appearing conspicuously powerful among the troops, using the simile of a bull among cows to convey dominance and battlefield confidence.