Shloka 27

Devanagari script

इयमापत्समुत्पन्ना परचक्रभयं महत्‌ | अपि चान्ताय कल्पन्ते वेणोरिव फलागमा:

Transliteration

iyam āpatsamutpannā paracakrabhayaṁ mahat | api cāntāya kalpante veṇor iva phalāgamāḥ ||

Translation

Бхишма сказал: «В пору бедствия возникла эта напасть — великий страх перед вражеским войском. И всё же даже такие грозные события могут в конце обернуться благом, как появление плода у бамбука приводит его к последнему исходу.»

Word by Word

इयम्this

आपत्calamity, distress

समुत्पन्नाarisen, occurred

परचक्रभयम्fear of the enemy host

महत्great

अपिalso, even

चand

अन्तायfor destruction/end

कल्पन्तेare fit/lead/turn out (to be)

वेणोःof a bamboo

इवlike, as

फलागमाःthe coming of fruiting (fruit-bearing season)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

paracakra (enemy host/army)

veṇu (bamboo)

phala (fruit)

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?

Even severe dangers that arise during a crisis—such as fear of an enemy force—may ultimately lead to a decisive resolution; adversity can become the means by which an ‘end’ (closure or final outcome) is reached.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and statecraft. Here he comments on a situation of emergency and external threat, using the image of bamboo fruiting to suggest that ominous developments can culminate in a final, determining outcome.