Shloka 39

उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः

Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment

Devanagari script

यस्य सम संग्रामगता यशो वै घ्नन्ति शत्रवः । तदसहातरं दुःखमहं मन्ये वधादपि,संग्रामभूमिमें आये हुए शत्रु जिसके यशका नाश कर देते हैं। उसके लिये उस दुःखको मैं मरणसे भी बढ़कर असहा मानता हूँ

Transliteration

yasya samare saṅgrāmagatā yaśo vai ghnanti śatravaḥ | tad asahātaraṃ duḥkham ahaṃ manye vadhād api ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：当敌人在战场相逢，竟能毁去一人的名声与荣誉时，我以为那种痛苦比死亡更难忍受。依刹帝利之道，在公开交战中因败北或受辱而失其声名，其苦甚于肉身之毁灭。

Word by Word

• यस्य: of whom/whose
• यस्य: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• सम्: together; fully (as prefix/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम् (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)

• संग्रामगता: gone to battle; having come to the battlefield
• संग्रामगता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संग्राम-गत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √गम् + क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यशः: fame, glory
• यशः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: यशस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• वै: indeed, surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (निपात)

• घ्नन्ति: they strike down/destroy
• Type: Verb
• Root: √हन् (हनँ हिंसागत्योः)
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• शत्रवः: enemies
• शत्रवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत्रु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• असहातरम्: more unbearable
• असहातरम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: असह (प्रातिपदिक) + तरप्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular, Comparative

• दुःखम्: sorrow, pain
• दुःखम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• मन्ये: I think/consider
• Type: Verb
• Root: √मन् (मनँ ज्ञाने)
• Form: Present (Lat), 1st, Singular, Atmanepada

• वधात्: than killing/death
• वधात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• अपि: even, also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (निपात)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• enemies (śatravaḥ)
• battlefield (saṅgrāma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that for one bound by warrior-ethics, the destruction of one’s honor and fame in open battle is a suffering more intolerable than death; moral and social integrity (yaśas) is treated as a value higher than mere survival.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and conduct. Here he reflects on the battlefield context, stating that when enemies in war ruin a person’s reputation, that disgrace is felt as worse than being slain.