Shloka 7

Bhīṣma’s Appraisal of Pāṇḍava-Alliance Warriors (Śikhaṇḍin, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and Allied Kings)

Devanagari script

सर्व एव महात्मान: शालस्तम्भा इवोद्गता:

Transliteration

sarva eva mahātmānaḥ śālastambhā ivodgatāḥ

Translation

ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਉਹ ਸਾਰੇ ਨਿਸ਼ਚੇ ਹੀ ਮਹਾਤਮਾ ਸਨ; ਸ਼ਾਲ ਦੇ ਦਰੱਖ਼ਤ ਦੇ ਸਤੰਭਾਂ ਵਾਂਗ ਸਿੱਧੇ ਤੇ ਅਡੋਲ ਖੜੇ ਸਨ।

Word by Word

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• महात्मानः: great-souled ones
• महात्मानः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• शालस्तम्भाः: pillars of a śāla (tree/house)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शालस्तम्भ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• इव: like/as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• उद्गताः: risen/standing up/towering
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उद्गत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• śāla tree
• pillars (stambha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral stature is shown through steadiness and uprightness: the truly noble stand firm under pressure, supporting dharma like pillars support a structure.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is describing a group of persons as uniformly noble and resolute, using the image of śāla-wood pillars to emphasize their upright, unshaken presence in a tense pre-war context.