Shloka 105

कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line

Devanagari script

वृषभस्यास्थितो रुद्रो हयस्य च नरोत्तम | स्तनांस्तदा5$शातयत खुरांश्चैव द्विधाकरोत्‌,मानद! उस समय वे वृषभके मस्तक और घोड़ेकी पीठपर खड़े थे। नरोत्तम! भगवान्‌ रुद्रने वृषभ तथा घोड़ेकी भी पीठपर सवार हो उस दानव-नगरको देखा। तब उन्होंने वृषभके खुरोंको चीरकर उन्हें दो भागोंमें बाँठ दिया और घोड़ोंके स्तन काट डाले

Transliteration

vṛṣabhasyāsthito rudro hayasya ca narottama | stanāṃstadāśātayat khurāṃścaiva dvidhākarot ||

Translation

ನರೋತ್ತಮನೇ! ರುದ್ರನು ವೃಷಭದ ತಲೆಯ ಮೇಲೂ ಕುದುರೆಯ ಬೆನ್ನಿನ ಮೇಲೂ ನಿಂತಿದ್ದನು. ಆಗ ಅವನು ಕುದುರೆಯ ಸ್ತನಗಳನ್ನು ಕತ್ತರಿಸಿ, ವೃಷಭದ ಖುರಗಳನ್ನು ಎರಡು ಭಾಗಗಳಾಗಿ ಚೀರಿದನು.

Word by Word

• {'vṛṣabha': 'bull', 'asthitaḥ': 'standing, stationed upon', 'rudraḥ': 'Rudra (Śiva), the fierce form of the divine', 'haya': 'horse', 'narottama': 'O best of men (vocative address)', 'stanān': 'teats, udders (of an animal)', 'tadā': 'then, at that time', 'śātayat': 'he cut off, severed, destroyed', 'khurān': 'hooves', 'ca eva': 'and indeed', 'dvidhā': 'into two parts', 'akarot': 'he made, he rendered'}

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma)
• Rudra (Śiva)
• vṛṣabha (bull)
• haya (horse)
• dānava-nagara (demon-city)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights Rudra’s terrifying, corrective aspect: when forces aligned with adharma become entrenched (symbolized by the demon-city), the divine may act with uncompromising severity to reassert cosmic order, even through harsh, disruptive measures.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes Rudra standing upon a bull and a horse while looking over a demon-city; he then mutilates the animals—splitting the bull’s hooves and cutting the horse’s teats—depicting a fierce display of power in the course of subduing hostile beings.