Shloka 109

Devanagari script

इत्युक्त्वा तांस्तदा हंसान्‌ स शेते शरतल्पग: । एवं कुरूणां पतिते शृज्गे भीष्मे महौजसि

Transliteration

ity uktvā tāṁs tadā haṁsān sa śete śaratālpagaḥ | evaṁ kurūṇāṁ patite śṛṅge bhīṣme mahaujasī ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：对那些天鹅说罢此言，毗湿摩——卧于箭床之上——便如前般安然静息。于是，当这位雄威盖世、为俱卢族之大力与冠冕的毗湿摩倒下之时，俱卢一方仿佛连自身的峰巅也随之崩塌，战争在道义与谋略上都出现了沉重的转折。

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• उक्त्वा: having said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), active

• तान्: those
• तान्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• हंसान्: swans
• हंसान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: हंस
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• शेते: lies, reclines
• Type: Verb
• Root: शी
• Form: present, 3rd, singular, ātmanepada

• शरतल्पगः: one who has gone to (lies on) a bed of arrows
• शरतल्पगः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शरतल्पग
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• एवम्: thus, in this manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम्

• कुरूणाम्: of the Kurus
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरु
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• पतिते: when (it was) fallen
• पतिते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पतित
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• शृङ्गे: in the peak, on the summit (i.e., in the foremost point)
• शृङ्गे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शृङ्ग
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• भीष्मे: when/where Bhishma (was)
• भीष्मे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्म
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• महौजसि: in the mighty one, in him of great prowess
• महौजसि: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महौजस्
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīṣma
• Kurus
• swans (haṁsa)
• bed of arrows (śaratālpa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how the fall of a single dharmic yet war-bound elder can signal the collapse of a dynasty’s moral and strategic ‘summit’; it highlights impermanence and the heavy ethical cost of fratricidal war.

What is happening in the narrative?

After addressing the swans, Bhīṣma remains lying on the arrow-bed; Sañjaya frames this as the moment when the Kurus’ foremost support—Bhīṣma—has fallen, indicating a decisive shift in the war’s course.