Shloka 22

Devanagari script

त॑ं इन्यु: काष्ठलोषछ्ैर्वा दहेयुर्वां कटाग्निना । पशुवन्मारयेयुर्वा क्षत्रिया ये स्युरीदृशा:,उनके लिये इन्द्र आदि देवता अमंगल मनाते हैं। जो सहायकोंको छोड़कर अपने प्राण बचानेकी इच्छा रखता है, ऐसे कायरको उसके साथी क्षत्रिय लाठी या ढेलोंसे पीटें अथवा घासके ढेरकी आगमें जला दें या उसे पशुकी भाँति गला घोटकर मार डालें

Transliteration

taṁ inyuḥ kāṣṭhaloṣṭhair vā daheyuḥ vā kaṭāgninā | paśuvan mārayeyur vā kṣatriyā ye syur īdṛśāḥ |

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا—ایسے بزدل کو اس کے ساتھی کشتری لاٹھیوں یا ڈھیلوں سے پیٹیں، یا گھاس کے ڈھیر کی آگ میں جلا دیں، یا جانور کی طرح گلا گھونٹ کر مار ڈالیں۔

Word by Word

तम्him

इन्युःshould drive/beat (him)

काष्ठलोष्ठैःwith sticks and clods

वाor

दहेयुःshould burn

वाor

कटाग्निनाwith the fire of a grass-heap

पशुवत्like an animal

मारयेयुःshould kill

वाor

क्षत्रियाःKshatriyas

येwho

स्युःmight be / should be

ईदृशाःsuch (of this kind)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Kshatriyas

Indra

Devas (gods)

clubs/sticks (kāṣṭha)

clods (loṣṭa)

haystack fire (kaṭāgni)

animal (paśu)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A Kṣatriya must not abandon companions or dependents to save himself; such self-preserving cowardice violates kṣatriya-dharma and is condemned both socially (by fellow warriors) and religiously (as inauspicious in the eyes of the gods).

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, in his instruction on dharma, describes harsh punitive measures that fellow Kṣatriyas may impose on a coward who deserts allies—striking, burning, or killing—underscoring the seriousness of betrayal and fear-driven desertion in the warrior code.