Shloka 483

उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः

Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment

Devanagari script

आगतं मे मित्रबलं प्रहरध्वमभीतवत्‌ | अपनी सेना उत्कृष्ट अवस्थामें हो या निकृष्ट अवस्थामें

Transliteration

āgataṃ me mitrabalaṃ praharadhvam abhītavat |

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「我が同盟軍は到着した。恐れなき者のごとく打ちかかれ。」周辺の教えが重んじるのは戦場の士気である。自軍が優勢であれ劣勢であれ、また報せが真実であれ虚偽であれ、腕を高く掲げて叫び、兵の心を一つにしてよい——「見よ、敵は逃げる！味方の援軍が来た！いまこそ恐れず攻めよ！」。その倫理的緊張は、宣言（時に欺き）を、味方を鎮め奮い立たせ、敵の決意を砕く戦の道具として用いる点にある。

Word by Word

• आगतम्: has come/arrived
• आगतम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-गम् (धातु) → आगत (कृदन्त)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• मे: my/of me
• मे: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• मित्रबलम्: the allied/friendly force
• मित्रबलम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मित्र + बल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• प्रहरध्वम्: strike! attack!
• प्रहरध्वम्: —
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-हृ (धातु) (परस्मैपद) → प्रहरति
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), Second, Plural, Parasmaipada

• अभीतवत्: fearlessly, like one unafraid
• अभीतवत्: Karana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अभीत + वत्
• Form: true

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• mitrabala (allied army)
• śatru (enemy, implied by the accompanying sense)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse urges fearless action supported by confidence in allies; in context it highlights how leadership and speech can shape morale, even raising ethical questions about using true or false proclamations as wartime strategy.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma instructs that when allied support arrives—or is announced as arriving—soldiers should be rallied to attack boldly, with shouted claims that the enemy is fleeing and that friendly forces have come.