Shloka 111
न किंचित् प्रत्यपद्यन्त पुत्रास्ते भरतर्षभ | भरतश्रेष्ठ! उन महान् शक्तिशाली एवं भरत-वंशियोंके पितामह भीष्मके मारे जानेपर आपके पुत्रोंको कुछ भी सूझ नहीं पड़ता था || ११० ई ।।
na kiñcit pratyapadyanta putrās te bharatarṣabha | bharataśreṣṭha! tān mahān śaktimān ca bharatavaṃśīnāṃ pitāmahaḥ bhīṣmaḥ hataḥ; tasmin hate tava putrāṇāṃ kiñcid api na pratyabhavat || sammohaś caiva tumulaḥ kurūṇām abhavat tadā ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O Stier unter den Bhāratas, deine Söhne konnten sich überhaupt nicht fassen. O Bester der Bhāratas, als der mächtige Bhīṣma—der Ahnvater der Bhārata-Linie—niedergestreckt war, fanden deine Söhne in sich keinen Rat. In jenem Augenblick ergriff die Kurus eine wilde, überwältigende Verwirrung.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a dharmic elder and strategic pillar (Bhīṣma) can shatter morale and judgment. It implicitly warns that power without inner steadiness collapses into sammoha (bewilderment), and that ethical authority and disciplined counsel are crucial in crisis.
After Bhīṣma is brought down in battle, Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava forces—especially Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons—are stunned and unable to decide what to do. A violent confusion spreads through the Kuru ranks at that moment.