Shloka 10

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

Devanagari script

स संरब्ध: समावृत्य शरं कालान्तकोपमम्‌ | संदधे बलवत्‌ कृष्य घोर शत्रुनिबर्हणम्‌,तब उन्होंने भी रोषमें आकर काल और यमके समान भयंकर शत्रुनाशक बाणको हाथमें ले धनुषको बलपूर्वक खींचकर उसके ऊपर रखा

Transliteration

sa saṃrabdhaḥ samāvṛtya śaraṃ kālāntakopamam | saṃdadhe balavat kṛṣya ghora-śatru-nibarhaṇam ||

Translation

Бхишма сказал: «Разъярившись, он взял страшную стрелу, подобную Смерти в конце времён; и, с силой натянув лук, наложил на тетиву тот грозный, губящий врагов снаряд.»

Word by Word

सःhe

संरब्धःenraged, provoked

समावृत्यhaving taken/covered (i.e., having grasped/handled)

शरम्arrow

कालान्तक-उपमम्like Death (Yama), death-like

संदधेhe fixed/placed (on the bow)

बलवत्forcefully, with strength

कृष्यhaving drawn (the bowstring)

घोरम्terrible, dreadful

शत्रु-निबर्हणम्destroyer of enemies

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

arrow (śara)

bow (implied by drawing and fitting the arrow)

Kāla (Time/Death, as a simile)

Antaka/Yama (Death, as a simile)

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?

The verse highlights how anger can rapidly escalate into lethal intent; in the epic’s ethical frame, martial power must be governed by dharma, because wrath makes one act as an instrument of ‘Time/Death,’ risking disproportionate harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s narration, a warrior—provoked and furious—seizes a fearsome arrow likened to apocalyptic Death, draws the bow with force, and sets the arrow to strike down an enemy.