Shloka 1
Bhagadattā’s Deployment Against Ghaṭotkaca; Elephant-Corps Escalation
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाभारत भीष्मपर्वके अन्तर्गत भीष्मवधपर्वमें आठवें दिनके युद्धसे सम्बन्ध रखनेवाला सतासीवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ ८७ ॥ अपन हू< बक। है २ >> अष्टाशीतितमो<् ध्याय: भीष्मका पराक्रम
sañjaya uvāca |
bhīṣmaṃ tu samare kruddhaṃ pratapantaṃ samantataḥ |
na śekuḥ pāṇḍavā draṣṭuṃ tapanantam iva bhāskaram ||
Sañjaya sprach: O König, als Bhīṣma, im Kampf erzürnt, ringsum in Macht zu lodern begann, vermochten die Pāṇḍavas ihn nicht anzublicken—wie man die Sonne nicht anstarren kann, wenn sie am heftigsten brennt.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how overwhelming power in war can inspire fear even in the righteous, and it implicitly raises an ethical tension: Bhīṣma’s terrifying effectiveness arises from steadfast commitment to his chosen duty, showing that dharma-bound resolve can produce formidable, even frightening, consequences on the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīṣma, angered in the fight, radiates such martial splendor and force on all sides that the Pāṇḍavas are unable to look at him—likened to the impossibility of staring at the blazing sun.