Shloka 58

भीष्मधनंजयद्वैरथम्

Bhīṣma–Dhanaṃjaya Duel and the Opening Clash

Devanagari script

नोभयोरन्तरं कश्चिद्‌ ददृशे भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

nobhayor antaraṃ kaścid dadṛśe bharatarṣabha

Translation

हे भरतश्रेष्ठ! त्या दोघांत कोणालाही काही अंतर दिसले नाही.

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• उभयोः: of the two (on both sides)
• उभयोः: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उभ
• Form: common (all genders), genitive, dual

• अन्तरम्: interval, space (between)
• अन्तरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्तर
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• कश्चित्: anyone, someone
• कश्चित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: क
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• ददृशे: was seen / appeared
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: perfect (liṭ), ātmanepada, 3rd, singular

• भरतर्षभ: O bull among the Bharatas
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरत-ऋषभ
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by address: bharatarṣabha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how, in the heat of conflict, engagement can become so total that ordinary measures—distance, pause, separation—vanish from perception. Ethically, it hints at the consuming nature of battle and the way intense rivalry can erase reflective space.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the two opposing figures being described are locked so closely in action that observers cannot discern any interval between them—signaling a fierce, uninterrupted clash.