Shanti Parva Adhyaya 102 Shloka 13 - Mahabharata | Kannada | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 13

शूरलक्षणवर्णनम् | Marks and Typologies of Martial Temperament

Devanagari script

गम्भीराक्षा नि:सृताक्षा: पिड्ाक्षा भ्रुकुटीमुखा: । नकुलाक्षास्तथा चैव सर्वे शूरास्तनुत्यज:

Transliteration

gambhīrākṣā niḥsṛtākṣāḥ piṅgākṣā bhrukuṭīmukhāḥ | nakulākṣās tathā caiva sarve śūrās tanutyajaḥ ||

Translation

ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಆಳವಾದ ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳಿರುವವರು, ಅಥವಾ ದೊಡ್ಡದಾಗಿ ಕಾಣಿಸಿ ಹೊರಬಂದಂತೆ ತೋರುವವರು; ಪಿಂಗಲ ವರ್ಣದ ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳಿರುವವರು; ಭ್ರೂಕುಟಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿದ ಮುಖವಿರುವವರು; ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ನಕುಲದಂತೆ ಕಂದು ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳಿರುವವರು—ಇಂತಹ ಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳಿರುವ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಶೂರರು; ರಣಭೂಮಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ದೇಹತ್ಯಾಗ ಮಾಡುವವರು.

Word by Word

गम्भीराक्षाःthose having deep eyes

निःसृताक्षाःthose with protruding/started-out eyes

पिङ्गलाक्षाःthose with tawny/brownish eyes

भ्रुकुटीमुखाःthose whose face is with knitted brows (frowning-faced)

नकुलाक्षाःthose with mongoose-like eyes

तथाthus/likewise

चand

एवindeed/just

सर्वेall

शूराःheroes/valiant men

तनुत्यजःthose who give up the body (die, esp. in battle)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

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?

Bhīṣma presents a traditional physiognomic observation: certain bodily features—especially types of eyes and a tense, knitted-brow expression—are taken as indicators of innate courage and a disposition to die fighting. The ethical frame is the kṣatriya ideal of fearlessness and readiness to sacrifice one’s life in righteous battle.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and related disciplines. Here he is describing characteristic marks (lakṣaṇas) by which one may recognize men inclined toward heroism and battlefield self-sacrifice.