Shloka 12

Chapter 136: Pandava Counter-Encirclement and the Vāyavya-Astra Disruption

Devanagari script

ततो भीमो महाबाहु: क्षुराभ्यां भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

tato bhīmo mahābāhuḥ kṣurābhyāṃ bharatarṣabha

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。すると、強大な腕をもつ勇士ビーマは、バーラタ族の雄牛よ、剃刀のごとく鋭い武器を手に取った――それは、武勇が試され、戦の要請によって自制が引き裂かれんばかりとなる激突が、決断的で容赦なき局面へと転じたしるしであった。

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात् अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थान/काल/अनन्तरार्थे)

• भीमः: Bhima
• भीमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• महाबाहुः: mighty-armed
• महाबाहुः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाबाहु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• क्षुराभ्याम्: with two razors / razor(-like weapons)
• क्षुराभ्याम्: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, द्विवचन

• भरतर्षभ: O bull of the Bharatas (best of the Bharatas)
• भरतर्षभ: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरतर्षभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīma
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by the address bharatarṣabha)
• kṣura (razor-like weapon/blade)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line highlights how, in war, a warrior’s duty (kṣatriya-dharma) can drive him toward increasingly severe means; it implicitly raises the ethical tension between necessary force and the loss of restraint when conflict escalates.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Bhīma, famed for strength, now acts decisively by employing razor-sharp weapons—an indication that the battle is intensifying and that Bhīma is about to strike with lethal precision.