Shloka 1

Devanagari script

अत-४-णका+ अष्ट षष्ट्यांधिकशततमोब& ध्याय: कौरवपक्षके रथियों और अतिरथियोंका वर्णन, कर्ण और भीष्मका रोषपूर्वक हक तथा दुर्योधनद्वारा उसका वारण भीष्म उवाच अचलो वृषकश्चैव सहितौ भ्रातरावुभौ । रथौ तव दुराधर्षो शत्रून्‌ विध्वंसयिष्यत:,भीष्म कहते हैं--अचल और वृषक--ये साथ रहनेवाले दोनों भाई दुर्धर्ष रथी हैं, जो तुम्हारे शत्रुओंका विध्वंस कर डालेंगे

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | acalo vṛṣakaś caiva sahitau bhrātarāv ubhau | rathau tava durādharṣau śatrūn vidhvaṃsayīṣyataḥ ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「アチャラとヴリシャカ——常に相寄り添うこの兄弟二人は、そなたの陣にあって抗し難き戦車武者である。彼らは敵を打ち砕くであろう。」

Word by Word

अचलःAchala (proper name)

वृषकःVṛṣaka (proper name)

चand

एवindeed/just

सहितौtogether, united

भ्रातरौtwo brothers

उभौboth

रथौtwo chariot-warriors (rathins)

तवof you/your

दुराधर्षौhard to assail/overpower

शत्रून्enemies

विध्वंसयिष्यतःwill destroy

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma (Bhīṣma)

Achala (Acala)

Vṛṣaka

Duryodhana (implied by 'tava')

enemies (śatravaḥ)

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 the pre-war ethic of solidarity and capability: commanders emphasize unity (sahitau) and steadfast strength (durādharṣau) as decisive factors. It also implicitly shows how, as war approaches, discourse shifts from reconciliation to enumeration of force—an ethical tension central to the Udyoga Parva.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma is listing and praising Kaurava-side chariot-warriors. Here he names the brothers Achala and Vṛṣaka as formidable fighters who, united, will destroy the enemy forces—part of a broader catalogue of rathīs/atirathīs and their expected roles in the coming battle.