Shloka 5

Devanagari script

सूचीमुखमनीकं स्यादल्पानां बहुभि: सह । अस्माकं च तथा सैन्यमल्पीय: सुतरां परै:,'थोड़े-से सैनिकोंसे बहुतोंके साथ युद्ध करनेके लिये सूचीमुख नामक व्यूह उपयोगी हो सकता है और हमारी सेना शत्रुओंसे बहुत कम है ही

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

sūcīmukham anīkaṃ syād alpānāṃ bahubhiḥ saha |

asmākaṃ ca tathā sainyam alpīyaḥ sutarāṃ paraiḥ ||

Translation

សញ្ជ័យបាននិយាយថា៖ «សម្រាប់កងទ័ពតិចដែលត្រូវប្រឈមមុខនឹងកងទ័ពច្រើន ក្បួនយុទ្ធដែលហៅថា “សូចីមុខ” (ចុងម្ជុល) អាចសមស្រប។ ហើយពិតប្រាកដណាស់ កងទ័ពរបស់យើងតូចជាងសត្រូវយ៉ាងខ្លាំង»។

Word by Word

सूचीमुखमनीकम्the needle-point (सूचीमुख) battle-array (formation)

स्यात्would be / may be

अल्पानाम्of the few (men)

बहुभिःwith/by the many

सहtogether with

अस्माकम्of us / our

चand

तथाso / likewise

सैन्यम्army

अल्पीयःsmaller / fewer

सुतराम्much / exceedingly

परैःthan/with the others (the enemies)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Sūcīmukha (vyūha/battle formation)

our army (Kaurava host, implied)

the enemy/opponents (Pāṇḍava host, implied)

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 strategic discernment and truthful assessment: when outnumbered, one should adopt a formation meant to pierce and concentrate force rather than spread thin—an ethical realism in counsel during war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield situation, notes that the Kaurava side is numerically inferior and therefore suggests (or reports the suitability of) the Sūcīmukha (‘needle-point’) formation for a smaller force facing a larger enemy host.