Shloka 3

भीष्मरक्षण-प्रकरणम् / The Protective Screen around Bhīṣma and the Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Clash

Devanagari script

उद्वृत्य चक्षुषी कोपान्निर्दहन्निव भारत । सदेवासुरगन्धर्व लोक॑ लोकविदां वर:

Transliteration

udvṛtya cakṣuṣī kopān nirdahann iva bhārata | sadevāsura-gandharva-lokaṁ lokavidāṁ varaḥ ||

Translation

ಓ ಭಾರತ! ಕೋಪದಿಂದ ಅವನು ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳನ್ನು ಮೇಲಕ್ಕೆತ್ತಿದನು—ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಸುಟ್ಟುಹಾಕುವಂತೆ. ಲೋಕಗಳನ್ನು ತಿಳಿದವರಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠನಾದ ಅವನು ದೇವ-ಅಸುರ-ಗಂಧರ್ವರೊಡನೆ ಸಮಸ್ತ ಲೋಕವನ್ನೇ ದಹಿಸಬಲ್ಲವನಂತೆ ತೋರ್ಪಟ್ಟನು।

Word by Word

उद्वृत्यhaving rolled up/raised (his eyes)

चक्षुषीthe two eyes

कोपात्from anger

निर्दहन्burning up (as if)

इवas if

भारतO Bharata

सदेवtogether with the gods

असुरthe asuras

गन्धर्वthe gandharvas

लोकम्the world

लोकविदाम्of the knowers of the worlds

वरःthe best/excellent one

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhārata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Devas

Asuras

Gandharvas

Lokas (worlds/realms)

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 how uncontrolled anger can appear world-consuming and destructive, implying an ethical warning: power and knowledge must be governed by restraint, or they become a threat to the wider order (loka).

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a figure (praised as ‘foremost among knowers of the worlds’) lifting his eyes in wrath, seeming to burn everything—so intense that it is portrayed as affecting all realms, including gods, Asuras, and Gandharvas.