Shloka 3
Saubhadra under Concentrated Assault; Pārṣata’s Intervention and Escalation
भीष्मो हि समरे क्रुद्धो हन्याल्लोकां श्वराचरान् । स कथं पाण्डवं युद्धे नातरत् संजयौजसा,संजय! भीष्म रणक्षेत्रमें कुपित हो जायँ तो वे चराचर प्राणियोंसहित सम्पूर्ण लोकोंको मार सकते हैं। फिर वे अपने पराक्रमद्वारा युद्धमें पाण्डुकुमार अर्जुनसे क्यों न पार पा सके?
bhīṣmo hi samare kruddho hanyāl lokān sacarācarān | sa kathaṁ pāṇḍavaṁ yuddhe nātarat sañjayaujasā, sañjaya |
ধৃতৰাষ্ট্ৰ ক’লে— সঞ্জয়! ভীষ্ম যদি সমৰত ক্ৰুদ্ধ হয়, তেন্তে চল-অচল প্ৰাণীসহ সমগ্ৰ লোকসমূহকো সংহাৰ কৰিব পাৰে। তেন্তে তেওঁ নিজৰ পৰাক্ৰমে যুদ্ধে পাণ্ডুকুমাৰ (অর্জুন)-ক কিয় জয় কৰিব নোৱাৰিলে?
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between sheer martial power and the limits imposed by circumstance, vows, strategy, and dharma: even the mightiest warrior may be unable to ‘overcome’ an opponent when higher constraints and the complex moral-psychological fabric of war are at play.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of events in the war, expresses astonishment: Bhīṣma is famed as capable of destroying entire worlds when angered, so he asks Sañjaya why Bhīṣma could not defeat Arjuna in battle.