Shloka 3

Devanagari script

सर्वे ब्रह्म॒विद: शूरा: सर्वे सुचरितव्रता: । सर्वे वर्मभृतश्वैव सर्वे चाहवलक्षणा:,वे सभी वेदवेत्ता, शूरवीर तथा उत्तम विधिसे व्रतका पालन करनेवाले थे। सभी कवचधारी तथा युद्धके चिह्नोंसे सुशोभित थे

Transliteration

sarve brahmavidaḥ śūrāḥ sarve sucaritavratāḥ | sarve varmabhṛtaś caiva sarve cāhavalakṣaṇāḥ ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。――彼らは皆、聖なる智を識る者であり、皆、勇猛なる英雄であり、皆、よく守られた誓戒と節度ある行いに堅く立っていた。誰もが鎧をまとい、歴戦の武人の徴と風格を備えていた。

Word by Word

सर्वेall

ब्रह्मविदःknowers of Brahman / Veda-knowers

शूराःheroes, valiant

सर्वेall

सुचरितव्रताःof well-observed vows / of good conduct and vows

सर्वेall

वर्मभृतःwearers of armor

चand

एवindeed, just

सर्वेall

चand

आहवलक्षणाःmarked by battle-signs / bearing marks of combat

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents an ideal of integrated excellence: spiritual learning (brahmavidyā), ethical discipline (well-kept vows), and martial readiness (armor and battle-bearing). It implies that true leadership in a dharmic society unites knowledge, self-restraint, and courage rather than treating them as separate virtues.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a group of men (warriors/attendants in the Udyoga Parva context) as uniformly distinguished—learned, brave, observant of vows, armored, and visibly prepared for combat—setting the tone of impending conflict while emphasizing their cultivated character.