Shloka 7

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

Devanagari script

अथास्रमस्रवद्‌ घोरं गिरेगैरिकधातुवत्‌ । रामेण सुमहाबाहो क्षतस्य छतजेक्षण

Transliteration

athāsramasravad ghoraṁ gire gairikadhātuvat | rāmeṇa sumahābāho kṣatasya chatajīkṣaṇa ||

Translation

अथास्रमस्रवद् घोरं गिरेर्गैरिकधातुवत् । रामेण सुमहाबाहो क्षतस्य छत्रजेक्षण ॥

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• आस्रमस्रवत्: flowed forth
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ + स्रु
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3, singular, Parasmaipada

• घोरम्: terrible (stream)
• घोरम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• गिरेः: from a mountain
• गिरेः: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि
• Form: masculine, ablative, singular

• गैरिकधातुवत्: like (water) mixed with red-ochre mineral
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गैरिक-धातु + वत्
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• रामेण: by Rama (Parashurama)
• रामेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राम
• Form: masculine, instrumental, singular

• सुमहाबाहो: O very mighty-armed one
• Type: Noun
• Root: सु-महा-बाहु
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• क्षतस्य: of the wounded (one)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षत
• Form: masculine, genitive, singular

• छतजेक्षण: O one whose eyes are born from/like an umbrella (epithet; text uncertain)
• Type: Noun
• Root: छत-ज-ईक्षण
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Duryodhana
• Rāma (Paraśurāma)
• mountain (giri)
• red ochre mineral (gairika-dhātu)
• blood stream

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the inevitability and magnitude of consequences once violence is unleashed: a single grievous blow can set in motion an unstoppable outflow of suffering, symbolized by the torrent of blood.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes to Duryodhana how, after Paraśurāma struck a deep wound, a terrifying stream of blood poured out, compared to an ochre-tinted mountain spring.