Shloka 30

उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः

Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment

Devanagari script

अनीकं ये विभिन्‍न्दन्ति भिन्न संस्थापयन्ति च । समानाशनपानास्ते कार्या: द्विगुणवेतना:

Transliteration

anīkaṃ ye vibhinndanti bhinnaṃ saṃsthāpayanti ca | samānāśanapānās te kāryā dvi-guṇa-vetanāḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说：凡能击破敌之战阵，又能在己军溃散之时重加整饬、使之坚立者，此等之人，王当以同己之饮食供给而加礼遇，并以双倍俸给任用。其义在于：卓绝之勇与危局中复归秩序之能，乃战争中的公共之利，当以实惠酬报，不止于口头称誉。

Word by Word

• {'anīkam': 'battle-array

• military front', 'ye': 'those who', 'vibhinndanti (vibhindanti)': 'split, pierce, break apart (especially an enemy formation)', 'bhinnaṃ': 'broken, scattered, disordered', 'saṃsthāpayanti': 'set in place again

• reorganize', 'ca': 'and', 'samāna-āśana-pānāḥ': 'having equal food and drink (i.e., granted the same rations/privileges as the king)', 'te': 'they

• those men', 'kāryāḥ': 'should be appointed/engaged

• should be made to serve (in office/service)', 'dvi-guṇa-vetanāḥ': 'with double wages

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• king (rājā, implied)
• enemy army (śatru-senā, implied)
• one's own army (sva-senā, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A king should materially reward and honor those rare commanders or warriors who can both shatter the enemy’s formation and restore one’s own scattered troops; such crisis-leadership merits equal privileges and double wages.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on rāja-dharma, he advises Yudhishthira on how to manage and incentivize capable military personnel—specifically those who can break enemy ranks and re-form disordered friendly forces.