Shloka 86

कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५९

Arjuna Breaks the Encirclement; Bhīma Reinforces

Devanagari script

अक्षौहिण्यस्तथा तिस्रो धार्तराष्ट्रस्य संहता: । क़्ुद्धेन भीमसेनेन नरसिंहेन वारिता:

Transliteration

akṣauhiṇyastathā tisro dhārtarāṣṭrasya saṃhatāḥ | kruddhena bhīmasenena narasiṃhena vāritāḥ ||

Translation

సంజయుడు పలికెను—ఈ విధంగా ధృతరాష్ట్రుని మూడు అక్షౌహిణీ సేనలు సమూహమై ముందుకు సాగుచుండగా, క్రోధించిన నరసింహుడు భీమసేనుడు వాటిని ఆపివేశెను.

Word by Word

अक्षौहिण्यःarmies (akṣauhiṇīs)

तथाalso/likewise

तिस्रःthree

धार्तराष्ट्रस्यof Dhṛtarāṣṭra / of the Dhārtarāṣṭras

संहताःmassed together, assembled

क्रुद्धेनby the enraged (one)

भीमसेनेनby Bhīmasena

नरसिंहेनby the man-lion (hero)

वारिताःwere checked/held back

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīmasena (Bhīma)

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (as ‘Dhārtarāṣṭra’—his forces/Kauravas)

three akṣauhiṇīs (Kaurava army divisions)

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 concentrated resolve and martial excellence can halt even overwhelming force; ethically, it also shows how anger (krodha) becomes a powerful battlefield driver, intensifying violence and testing self-mastery within kṣatriya-dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that three akṣauhiṇīs of the Kaurava host, gathered together, were nevertheless stopped in their advance by Bhīma, who—fighting in fury—acts like a ‘lion among men’ and blocks their movement.