Shloka 296

भीष्मशिबिरगमनम् — Duryodhana’s Visit to Bhīṣma’s Camp and the Command Appeal

Devanagari script

विविशुस्ते तदा हृष्टा गान्धारा युद्धदुर्मदा: । महाबाहो! उस समय उन युद्धदुर्मद गान्धार-देशीय वीरोंने विजय अथवा स्वर्गकी अभिलाषा लेकर विशाल सेनाके साथ पाण्डव-वाहिनीके परम दुर्जयव्यूहका भेदन करके हर्ष और उत्साहसे परिपूर्ण हो उसके भीतर प्रवेश किया

Transliteration

viviśus te tadā hṛṣṭā gāndhārā yuddha-durmadāḥ |

Translation

اے مہاباہو! تب گاندھار کے وہ سورما جو جنگ کے غرور میں مدہوش تھے، فتح یا جنت کی آرزو لیے، عظیم لشکر کے ساتھ پانڈوؤں کی فوج کے نہایت دشوارگذر وُیوہ کو توڑ کر، خوشی اور جوش سے لبریز ہو کر اس کے اندر گھس آئے۔

Word by Word

• विविशुः: they entered
• विविशुः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: विश् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद), perfect (completed past), 3, plural

• ते: they (those)
• ते: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• तदा: then
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)

• हृष्टाः: delighted, exhilarated
• हृष्टाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हृष्ट (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √हृष्)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• गान्धाराः: the Gandhāras (men of Gandhāra)
• गान्धाराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गान्धार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• युद्ध-दुर्मदाः: maddened by battle / battle-intoxicated
• युद्ध-दुर्मदाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुर्मद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Gandhāra (warriors)
• Pāṇḍavas (army/host)
• battle-formation (vyūha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the warrior ethos where combatants are propelled by twin aims—worldly victory and the hope of heaven—while also warning implicitly about yuddha-durmada, the dangerous intoxication of pride that can cloud judgment in dharmic conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the Gandhāra fighters, energized and confident, breach the Pāṇḍavas’ formidable formation (vyūha) and push into its interior with a large force, seeking either triumph on the field or the merit of dying in battle.