Shloka 86

भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ११०: पार्थभीमयोः प्रहारः तथा भीष्माभिमुखं संग्रामविस्तारः

Arjuna and Bhima’s pressure; escalation toward Bhishma

Devanagari script

एष तस्मात्‌ पुरोधाय कज्चिदन्यं ममाग्रत:

Transliteration

eṣa tasmāt purodhāya kaścid anyaṁ mamāgrataḥ |

Translation

Bhīṣma berkata: “Oleh itu, dengan meletakkan seorang lelaki lain di hadapanku, biarlah Arjuna—mahir dengan busur terbaik dan segala senjata—bertarung dengan tekad yang berhati-hati. Dengan menegakkan di hadapanku seseorang yang memiliki tanda-tanda tersebut, atau Śikhaṇḍin, biarlah dia menjatuhkanku dengan anak panah. Dengan cara ini, kemenanganmu dapat dipastikan.”

Word by Word

• {'eṣa': 'this

• thus (pointing to the present instruction)', 'tasmāt': 'therefore

• for that reason', 'purodhāya': 'having placed in front

• putting forward as a screen/foremost', 'kaścid': 'someone

• a certain person', 'anyam': 'another

• different (from oneself)', 'mama': 'of me

• my', 'agrataḥ': 'in front

• before (me)', 'arjunaḥ': 'Arjuna (the Pāṇḍava archer)', 'śreṣṭha-dhanuḥ': 'excellent bow

• best archer’s bow (implied epithet)', 'astra-śastra': 'missile weapons and hand-weapons', 'yuddhe': 'in battle', 'sāvadāna': 'careful

• vigilant', 'prayatnaśīla': 'striving

• exerting oneself', 'lakṣaṇa': 'mark

• characteristic sign', 'yukta': 'endowed with

• possessing', 'puruṣa': 'man

• person', 'śikhaṇḍī': 'Śikhaṇḍin (the warrior used as Bhīṣma’s ‘shield’ due to Bhīṣma’s vow)', 'bāṇaiḥ': 'with arrows', 'mārayet / pātayet': 'should kill / should bring down', 'niścitarūpeṇa': 'certainly

• decisively', 'vijaya': 'victory'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Arjuna
• Śikhaṇḍin

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma indicates that even in war, outcomes hinge on dharma-bound constraints: his own vow limits how he will fight, and the Pāṇḍavas may use that constraint strategically. The teaching highlights the ethical complexity of warfare—victory is pursued through knowledge of vows, duties, and permissible stratagems rather than brute force alone.

What is happening in the narrative?

On the battlefield, Bhīṣma explains how he can be brought down: Arjuna should advance while placing another warrior—specifically Śikhaṇḍin or someone matching the described signs—before him, and then shoot Bhīṣma with arrows. This counsel foreshadows the method by which Bhīṣma is later felled.