Shloka 563

भीष्मधनंजयद्वैरथम्

Bhīṣma–Dhanaṃjaya Duel and the Opening Clash

Devanagari script

तथैव चापनिर्घोष॑ चक्रतुस्तोौ महारथौ । वे दोनों महारथी सिंहनादसे मिला हुआ शंखनाद करते और धनुषकी टंकार फैलाते रहते थे

Transliteration

tathaiva cāpanirghoṣaṃ cakratus tau mahārathau |

Translation

సంజయుడు పలికెను—అదేవిధంగా ఆ ఇద్దరు మహారథులు సింహనాదముతో కలిసిన శంఖనాదమును చేయుచు, ధనుస్సుల ఘోషను నిరంతరం వ్యాపింపజేయుచుండిరి.

Word by Word

• तथा: thus, in the same manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

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

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अपनिर्घोषम्: a loud sound/uproar (resounding noise)
• अपनिर्घोषम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपनिर्घोष
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• चक्रतुः: they made, they produced
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Dual, Parasmaipada

• तौ: those two
• तौ: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• महारथौ: two great chariot-warriors
• महारथौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• two mahārathas (unspecified)
• conch (śaṅkha, implied by context)
• bow (cāpa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya ethos in war: disciplined courage and the public declaration of resolve. The sounds of bow and conch function as a moral-psychological assertion of readiness to uphold one’s chosen duty in the impending conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two foremost warriors continuously producing the booming sounds of their bows (and, by context, conches and lion-roars), spreading their martial challenge across the battlefield as the armies prepare and the confrontation intensifies.