Mahabharata 7.151.28 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 151, Shloka 28

अलायुधस्य भीमवधसंकल्पः

Alāyudha’s Resolve to Confront Bhīma

Devanagari script

त्वं तेजस्त्वं परं ब्रह्म त्वं सत्यं त्वं महत्‌ तपः । त्वं श्रेयस्त्वं यशक्षाग्रयं कारणं जगतस्तथा

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | tvaṁ tejastvaṁ paraṁ brahma tvaṁ satyaṁ tvaṁ mahat tapaḥ | tvaṁ śreyastvaṁ yaśaḥ ślāghryaṁ kāraṇaṁ jagatastathā |

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—آپ ہی نور و جلال ہیں، آپ ہی پرم برہمن ہیں؛ آپ ہی حق ہیں، آپ ہی عظیم تپسیا ہیں۔ آپ ہی اعلیٰ خیر ہیں، آپ ہی قابلِ ستائش بلند ترین یَش ہیں، اور آپ ہی جگت کے سبب ہیں۔

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tvam', 'meaning': 'you (emphatic address)'}, {'term': 'tejas', 'meaning': 'radiance, spiritual power, splendor'}, {'term': 'paraṁ brahma', 'meaning': 'the Supreme Brahman

• ultimate reality'}, {'term': 'satya', 'meaning': 'truth

• that which is real and trustworthy'}, {'term': 'mahat tapaḥ', 'meaning': 'great austerity/ascetic power

• intense spiritual discipline'}, {'term': 'śreyas', 'meaning': 'the highest good

• true welfare (as opposed to mere pleasure)'}, {'term': 'yaśaḥ', 'meaning': 'fame, renown, glory'}, {'term': 'ślāghryam', 'meaning': 'praiseworthy, worthy of commendation'}, {'term': 'kāraṇam', 'meaning': 'cause

• originating principle'}, {'term': 'jagataḥ', 'meaning': 'of the world/universe'}, {'term': 'pralaya', 'meaning': 'cosmic dissolution'}, {'term': 'līyate', 'meaning': 'is dissolved/absorbed (merges back into its source)'}]

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a devotional-advaitic vision: the addressed Supreme is simultaneously the source of all virtues (truth, austerity, highest good) and the metaphysical ground of the cosmos—creation arises from that Reality and dissolves back into it at pralaya.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, breaks into a hymn-like praise, identifying the Supreme (implicitly the Lord guiding events) as the ultimate cause and refuge of the universe, framing the war’s turmoil within a larger cosmic and ethical order.