Shloka 21

Drupada’s Alarm and Inquiry Regarding Śikhaṇḍinī (द्रुपदस्य भय-विमर्शः)

Devanagari script

तस्य पापस्य करणात्‌ फल प्राप्रुहि दुर्मते । देहि युद्ध नरपते ममाद्य रणमूर्धनि

Transliteration

tasya pāpasya karaṇāt phala prāpruhi durmate | dehi yuddha narapate mamādya raṇamūrdhani ||

Translation

เพราะได้กระทำบาปนั้น จงรับผลของมันเถิด โอ้ผู้มีใจชั่ว! โอ้เจ้าแห่งมนุษย์ จงให้ข้าได้รบ—วันนี้ ณ แนวหน้าสมรภูมิ

Word by Word

तस्यof that

पापस्यof the sin/evil deed

करणात्from (your) doing/commission

फलम्fruit, result

प्राप्नुहिobtain, receive

दुर्मतेO evil-minded one

देहिgive, grant

युद्धम्battle, fight

नरपतेO king (lord of men)

ममof me, my

अद्यtoday, now

रणमूर्धनिon the battlefield (lit. on the head/top of battle)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

narapati (the king, addressed)

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 asserts moral causality: wrongdoing (pāpa) necessarily yields a consequence (phala). Bhīṣma frames the coming combat as the moment when the wrongdoer must ‘reap the fruit’ of his actions, emphasizing accountability rather than arbitrary violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses a king as an adversary, condemning his intent as durmati (‘evil-minded’) and issuing a direct challenge: ‘Grant me battle today, at the very front of the fight.’ The speech heightens the martial tension while grounding it in an ethical claim of deserved consequence.