Shloka 15

Bhīṣma’s Recollection of the Duel: Charioteer’s Fall, Brahmin Protection, and Portents after Rāma’s Collapse

Devanagari script

समाश्च॒स्तस्ततो राम: क्रोधामर्षसमन्वित: । प्रादुश्चके तदा ब्राह्में परमास्त्र महाव्रत:,तदनन्तर महाव्रती परशुरामजी धैर्ययुक्त हो क्रोध और अमर्षमें भर गये और उन्होंने परम उत्तम ब्रह्मास्त्रका प्रयोग किया

Transliteration

samāś ca stas tato rāmaḥ krodhāmarṣa-samanvitaḥ | prāduścakre tadā brāhme paramāstraṃ mahāvrataḥ ||

Translation

त्यानंतर महाव्रती राम (परशुराम) सावरून, क्रोध व अपमानभावनेने भरून गेले आणि त्यांनी तेव्हा परम ब्रह्मास्त्र प्रकट करून सोडले.

Word by Word

समाःequal (ones)

चand

अस्तःsetting (sunset); disappearance

ततःthen; thereafter

रामःRama (Parashurama)

क्रोधामर्षसमन्वितःendowed with anger and indignation

प्रादुश्चकेmanifested; appeared; brought forth

तदाat that time

ब्रह्मेin/with Brahma (i.e., in the Brahma-weapon context)

परमास्त्रम्the supreme weapon

महाव्रतःthe great-vowed (one)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Rāma (Paraśurāma)

Brahmāstra (Brahmā-weapon)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse cautions that anger (krodha) and affronted pride (amarṣa) can push even disciplined, vow-bound figures toward disproportionate force, turning a dispute into a dangerous escalation that threatens dharmic restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma narrates that Paraśurāma, provoked and enraged, proceeds to manifest and employ the supreme Brahmā-weapon (brahmāstra), signaling a dramatic intensification of the confrontation.