Shloka 49

Adhyāya 111 (Book 6): Daśama-dina-saṃgrāma—Bhīṣma’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira and the Śikhaṇḍin-Led Advance

Devanagari script

काममभ्यस वा मा वा न मे जीवन प्रमोक्ष्यसे । सुदृष्ट: क्रियतां भीष्म लोको5यं समितिंजय

Transliteration

kāmam abhyasu vā mā vā na me jīvan pramokṣyase | sudṛṣṭaḥ kriyatāṁ bhīṣma loko 'yaṁ samitiṁjaya ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“你尽可随意击我——或全然不击也罢；但今日你休想从我手中活着脱身。好好看一看这世间吧，噢毗湿摩，战阵的征服者！”

Word by Word

• कामम्: as you wish / at will
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: काम
• Form: Avyaya (accusative used adverbially)

• अभ्यस: strike / attack
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि+अस्
• Form: Imperative, 2nd person singular, parasmaipada

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा
• Form: Conjunction

• मा: do not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मा
• Form: Prohibitive particle (with imperative)

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा
• Form: Conjunction

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न
• Form: Negation

• मे: of me / my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive singular

• जीवनम्: life
• जीवनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीवन
• Form: Neuter, accusative singular

• प्रमोक्ष्यसे: you will be released / you will escape
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र+मुच्
• Form: Future, 2nd person singular, ātmanepada

• सुदृष्टः: well-seen / having looked well
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु-दृष्ट
• Form: Masculine, nominative singular

• क्रियताम्: let it be done / do (it)!
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Imperative (passive), 3rd person singular

• भीष्म: O Bhīṣma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्म
• Form: Masculine, vocative singular

• लोकः: world
• लोकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक
• Form: Masculine, nominative singular

• अयम्: this
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine, nominative singular

• समितिंजय: O conqueror in battle
• Type: Noun
• Root: समिति-जय
• Form: Masculine, vocative singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the warrior ethic of unwavering resolve: one may accept death as the price of duty, and one’s speech becomes a vow that binds action on the battlefield.

What is happening in the narrative?

A combatant addresses Bhīṣma directly, declaring that whether Bhīṣma strikes or refrains, he will not escape alive that day, and urging him to look upon the world—an intense challenge typical of battlefield exchanges.