तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत ।सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः ॥
tam uvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ prahasann iva bhārata |senayor ubhayor madhye viṣīdantam idaṃ vacaḥ ||
- तम् · tam
- to him
- उवाच · uvāca
- spoke
- हृषीकेशः · hṛṣīkeśaḥ
- Hrishikesha (Krishna)
- प्रहसन् · prahasan
- smiling
- इव · iva
- as it were, as if
- भारत · bhārata
- O Bharata (Dhritarashtra)
- सेनयोः · senayoḥ
- of the armies
- उभयोः · ubhayoḥ
- of both
- मध्ये · madhye
- in the middle
- विषीदन्तम् · viṣīdantam
- to the despondent one
- इदम् · idam
- this
- वचः · vacaḥ
- speech, words
“To him, despondent between the two armies, Hrishikesha spoke these words — smiling, as it were, O Bharata.”
— Original plain-language translation
Smiling — at the exact centre of the battlefield, facing a weeping friend. The smile is not mockery but the composure of one who sees what Arjuna cannot yet: that nothing real is at stake. Hold this image; the whole teaching flows from it.
— Reader's notes (original)