Shloka 11

अम्बा-शाल्वसंवादः | Amba’s Appeal to Śālva and His Refusal

Devanagari script

अम्बालिका च राजेन्द्र राजकन्या यवीयसी । सो5हमेकरथेनैव गत: काशिपते: पुरीम्‌,भरतश्रेष्ठ! राजेन्द्र! उन तीनोंके स्वयंवरके लिये भूमण्डलके सम्पूर्ण नरेश आमन्त्रित किये गये थे। उनमें अम्बा सबसे बड़ी थी, अम्बिका मझली थी और राजकन्या अम्बालिका सबसे छोटी थी। स्वयंवरका समाचार पाकर मैं एक ही रथके द्वारा काशिराजके नगरमें गया

Transliteration

ambālikā ca rājendra rājakaṇyā yavīyasī | so 'ham ekarathenaiva gataḥ kāśipateḥ purīm |

Translation

राजेंद्र! राजकन्या अंबालिका सर्वांत धाकटी होती. म्हणून मी एकटाच, एका रथाने, काशीपतीच्या नगरीस गेलो.

Word by Word

अम्बालिकाAmbālikā

चand

राजेन्द्रO king of kings

राजकन्याprincess

यवीयसीyounger (youngest)

सःhe / that (one)

अहम्I

एकरथेनby a single chariot

एवindeed / only

गतःgone

काशिपतेःof the lord of Kāśī (king of Kāśī)

पुरीम्city

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Ambālikā

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī region)

Kāśipati (king of Kāśī)

ratha (chariot)

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 passage highlights dharma as resolute, purposeful action undertaken for a larger responsibility (here, the Kuru lineage), while also foreshadowing the ethical tension created when personal vows and political necessities intersect.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma narrates that Ambālikā was the youngest Kāśī princess and that he himself went alone in a single chariot to the city of the king of Kāśī, in connection with the svayaṃvara of the princesses.