भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ७२: सैन्यगुणवर्णनम्, व्यूहरक्षा, दैव-पुरुषकारचिन्ता
द्रोणभीष्मौ तु संक़्रुद्धावापतन्ती महाबलौ | प्रत्युद्ययौ शिखण्डी तु महेष्वासो महाहवे
droṇabhīṣmau tu saṅkruddhāv āpatantī mahābalau | pratyudyayau śikhaṇḍī tu maheṣvāso mahāhave ||
Sañjaya sprach: Von Zorn entbrannt stürmten die mächtigen Krieger Droṇa und Bhīṣma voran. In jener großen Schlacht trat Śikhaṇḍī, ein hervorragender Bogenschütze, ihnen entgegen und ging zum Gegenangriff über.
संजय उवाच
The verse highlights the moral complexity of kṣatriya duty: even revered elders and teachers, driven by wrath and allegiance, rush into violence, while opponents meet them with resolve. It frames war as a field where personal bonds, vows, and ethical limits are tested under pressure.
Droṇa and Bhīṣma, angered, surge forward to attack. Śikhaṇḍī, famed as a great archer, advances to confront them in the thick of the great battle—an important movement toward the later confrontation involving Bhīṣma.