Shloka 63

भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ११०: पार्थभीमयोः प्रहारः तथा भीष्माभिमुखं संग्रामविस्तारः

Arjuna and Bhima’s pressure; escalation toward Bhishma

Devanagari script

प्रजानां संशयो न स्यात्‌ कथं तन्मे वद प्रभो । भवान्‌ हि नो वधोपायं ब्रवीतु स्वयमात्मन:

Transliteration

prajānāṃ saṃśayo na syāt kathaṃ tan me vada prabho | bhavān hi no vadhopāyaṃ bravītu svayam ātmanaḥ ||

Translation

Sanjaya berkata: “Agar rakyat tidak dilanda keraguan atau bahaya, katakanlah kepadaku—bagaimanakah hal itu dapat dipastikan, wahai tuanku? Sesungguhnya, tuanku sendiri patut menyatakan kepada kami jalan bagaimana tuanku dapat ditewaskan.”

Word by Word

• {'prajānām': 'of the subjects/people', 'saṃśayaḥ': 'doubt

• apprehension', 'na syāt': 'may there not be

• should not arise', 'katham': 'how?', 'tat': 'that (matter/means)', 'me': 'to me', 'vada': 'tell

• speak', 'prabho': 'O lord

• O master (vocative)', 'bhavān': 'you (honorific)', 'hi': 'indeed

• for', 'naḥ': 'to us

• for us', 'vadha-upāyam': 'means/strategy of killing

• method of slaying', 'bravītu': 'let (him/you) say

• should declare', 'svayam': 'oneself

• personally', 'ātmanaḥ': 'of oneself

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• prajā (the people/subjects)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid war, the speaker frames action through responsibility toward the people: decisions must minimize uncertainty and harm to subjects, and strategy is sought not for cruelty but for resolving a dangerous impasse with clarity and accountability.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya asks a revered figure addressed as “prabhu” to explain how the people can be kept from danger and confusion, and urges him to state directly the method by which he himself can be slain—indicating a tense moment where defeating a formidable person is seen as necessary to end wider suffering.