Shloka 70

Devanagari script

मनुष्यलोके सकले यस्य तुल्यो न विद्यते | तेन भीष्मेण ते तात कथमासीत्‌ समागम:,तात! जो एक ही लक्ष्यके साथ-साथ सहस्रों लक्ष्योंका वेध करनेके लिये बाण चलाता है और कहीं भी चूकता नहीं है, उस कर्णके साथ तुम्हारा युद्ध किस प्रकार हुआ? बेटा! सारे मनुष्यलोकमें जिनकी समानता करनेवाला कोई नहीं है, उन भीष्मजीके साथ तुम्हारी भिड़न्त किस प्रकार हुई?

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

manuṣyaloke sakale yasya tulyo na vidyate |

tena bhīṣmeṇa te tāta katham āsīt samāgamaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Con yêu, con đã giáp mặt Bhīṣma như thế nào—người mà trong khắp cõi nhân gian không ai sánh kịp?”

Word by Word

मनुष्यलोकेin the world of men

सकलेentire, whole

यस्यof whom/whose

तुल्यःequal

नnot

विद्यतेexists/is found

तेनby/with him

भीष्मेणwith Bhishma

तेof you/your

तातO dear son

कथम्how?

आसीत्was

समागमःmeeting/encounter

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhīṣma

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?

The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethic of recognizing true excellence: Bhīṣma is portrayed as peerless in the human realm, and the narrative invites reflection on how one should approach, assess, and speak about extraordinary virtue and martial capability with humility and accuracy.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, asks (addressing a younger interlocutor as ‘tāta’) how the encounter with Bhīṣma took place—framing Bhīṣma as unmatched among men and setting up a recounting of the circumstances of that confrontation.