Shloka 6

Bhīṣma on the Śara-Śayyā: Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa Approach the Eldest for Śānti

Devanagari script

ततस्ते ददृशुर्भीष्मं शरप्रस्तरशायिनम्‌ । स्वरश्मिजालसंवीतं सायंसूर्यसमप्रभम्‌,उन्होंने देखा कि भीष्मजी शरशय्यापर सो रहे हैं और अपनी किरणोंसे घिरे हुए सायंकालिक सूर्यके समान प्रकाशित होते हैं

Transliteration

tatas te dadṛśur bhīṣmaṁ śaraprastaraśāyinam | svaraśmijālasaṁvītaṁ sāyaṁsūryasamaprabham ||

Translation

随后他们看见毗湿摩卧在密密钉立的箭床之上，周身为自身光辉之网所环绕，灿然如暮日之辉。

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• ददृशुः: saw
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: perfect (liṭ), 3rd, plural, parasmaipada

• भीष्मम्: Bhīṣma
• भीष्मम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्म
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• शरप्रस्तरशायिनम्: lying on a bed (strewn) of arrows
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शरप्रस्तरशायिन्
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• स्वरश्मिजालसंवीतम्: surrounded/covered by his own net of rays
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वरश्मिजालसंवीत
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• सायंसूर्यसमप्रभम्: having splendor like the evening sun
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सायंसूर्यसमप्रभ
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• bed of arrows (śara-śayyā / śaraprastara)
• evening sun (sāyaṁsūrya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents Bhīṣma as a model of disciplined endurance: even while pierced and immobilized on the arrow-bed, he retains a luminous dignity. Ethically, it signals that inner steadiness and commitment to dharma can persist despite pain and the moral wreckage of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the great war, the approaching party (implied by 'they') comes to Bhīṣma and sees him lying on the arrow-bed. He appears surrounded by radiance, compared to the evening sun—setting the solemn atmosphere for the ensuing instruction in Śānti Parva.