Shloka 7

भीष्म–दुर्योधनसंवादः — शिखण्डिनं न हन्तुं कारणकथनम्

Amba-ākhyāna prologue

Devanagari script

क्षत्रधर्मा तु राजेन्द्र मतो मे<र्थरथो नृप । धृष्टद्युम्नस्य तनयो बाल्यान्नातिकृतश्रम:,राजेन्द्र! धृष्टद्युम्नका पुत्र क्षत्रधर्मा मेरी समझमें अभी अर्धरथी है। बाल्यावस्था होनेके कारण उसने अस्त्र-विद्यामें अधिक परिश्रम नहीं किया है

Transliteration

kṣatradharmā tu rājendra mato me 'rtharatho nṛpa | dhṛṣṭadyumnasya tanayo bālyān nātikṛtaśramaḥ ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「王の中の最上よ。私の見立てでは、ドリシュタデュムナの子クシャトラダルマは、まだ“アルダラタ”――半ば鍛えられた戦車武者にすぎぬ。なお幼く、武器の諸技に大いに励んではいないゆえ、クシャトリヤの法における位も戦場の技も、いまだ十分に成熟していない。」

Word by Word

क्षत्रधर्माone whose duty is that of a kshatriya

तुbut/indeed

राजेन्द्रO king of kings

मतःconsidered/held (as)

मेof me / my

अर्धरथःa half-charioteer (middling warrior grade)

नृपO king

धृष्टद्युम्नस्यof Dhrishtadyumna

तनयःson

बाल्यात्because of childhood / from childhood

नnot

अतिकृतश्रमःone who has done excessive exertion (i.e., much practice)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

rājendra/nṛpa (the addressed king)

Dhṛṣṭadyumna

Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s son

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?

Bhīṣma emphasizes that kṣatriya-dharma is not merely a birth-based identity but a discipline proven through training and exertion; youth and insufficient practice limit one’s battlefield competence and thus one’s effective fulfillment of warrior duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Bhīṣma is evaluating combatants for the king, judging Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s son to be only an ardharatha—still young and not yet thoroughly trained in weaponry—thereby advising on relative strength and preparedness.