Shloka 22

Devanagari script

भूयश्चैव च तप्तव्यं तपश्चरणमुत्तमम्‌ । स्वर्ग त्ववश्यं गन्तव्यं त्वया शत्रुनिष्दन,'शत्रुसूदन! अभी तुम्हें और भी उत्तम तपस्या करनी है और स्वर्गलोकमें अवश्य पदार्पण करना है

Transliteration

bhūyaś caiva ca taptavyaṃ tapaś caraṇam uttamam | svargaṃ tv avaśyaṃ gantavyaṃ tvayā śatruniṣūdana ||

Translation

而且你还须再行苦修，践履最上等的苦行之道（tapas）。你必定要登临天界，噬敌者啊。

Word by Word

भूयःagain; further; more

चand

एवindeed; certainly

चand

तप्तव्यम्must be practiced/performed (austerity must be done)

तपःausterity; penance

चरणम्practice; performance; undertaking

उत्तमम्excellent; best

स्वर्गम्heaven; Svarga

तुbut; indeed (emphatic/contrastive)

अवश्यम्certainly; necessarily

गन्तव्यम्must be gone to; must be reached

त्वयाby you

शत्रुनिषूदनO slayer of enemies

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Śatruniṣūdana (epithet: slayer of foes)

Svarga (heaven)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes that sustained tapas—disciplined austerity and self-restraint—is an ethical duty that leads to higher spiritual and karmic outcomes, symbolized by assured attainment of svarga.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna addresses the listener (hailed as ‘Śatruniṣūdana’) with an exhortation: to undertake further, superior austerity and to proceed inevitably toward svarga, indicating a moment of counsel or encouragement toward ascetic effort and its promised result.