Shloka 27

भीमस्य बल्लव-प्रतिज्ञा तथा अर्जुनस्य बृहन्नडा-रूप-निर्णयः

Bhīma’s Ballava Vow and Arjuna’s Decision to Become Bṛhannadā

Devanagari script

पिनद्धकम्बु: पाणिभ्यां तृतीयां प्रकृतिं गत: । वेणीकृतशिरा राजन्‌ नाम्ना चैव बृहन्नला,मैं दोनों कानोंमें अग्निके समान कान्तिमान्‌ कुण्डल पहनकर हाथोंमें शंखकी चूड़ियाँ धारण कर लूँगा। इस प्रकार तीसरी प्रकृति (नपुंसकभाव)-को अपनाकर सिरपर चोटी गूँथ लूँगा और अपनेको बृहन्नला नामसे घोषित करूँगा

Transliteration

pinaddha-kambuḥ pāṇibhyāṁ tṛtīyāṁ prakṛtiṁ gataḥ | veṇī-kṛta-śirā rājan nāmnā caiva bṛhannalā ||

Translation

アルジュナは言った。「王よ、私は手に法螺貝の腕輪をはめ、自然の第三の状態（宦官の身）を受け入れて髪を編み、辮髪としよう。かくして私は『ブリハンナーラー』の名で知られることになる。」

Word by Word

पिनद्धकम्बुःwearing/putting on conch(-like) bangles

पाणिभ्याम्on/with (both) hands

तृतीयाम्the third

प्रकृतिम्nature/condition (here: third gender/neutral state)

गतःhaving gone/assumed

वेणीकृतशिराःwith hair/head made into a braid/topknot

राजन्O king

नाम्नाby name

चand

एवindeed/just

बृहन्नलाBṛhannalā (name)

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna (Ajuna)

King (rājan—addressed interlocutor, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira in context)

Bṛhannalā

conch-shell bangles (kambu/kambuḥ)

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?

Dharma may require restraint and strategic concealment: Arjuna willingly adopts a socially vulnerable guise to uphold the collective vow and protect the larger righteous objective, showing mastery over ego and attachment to status.

What is happening in the narrative?

Planning the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito year, Arjuna explains how he will disguise himself: wearing feminine-coded ornaments, braiding his hair, and taking the name Bṛhannalā so that he can live unrecognized in Virāṭa’s realm.