Shloka 120
शड्खभृन्नन्दकी चक्री शार्ज्धन्वा गदाधर: । रथाड्रपाणिरक्षोभ्य: सर्वप्रहरणायुध:
śaṅkhabhṛn nandakī cakrī śārṅgadhanvā gadādharaḥ | rathāṅgapāṇir akṣobhyaḥ sarvapraharaṇāyudhaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He bears the conch; he wields Nandaka; he carries the discus; he holds the Śārṅga bow; he is the bearer of the mace. He is the one who, to uphold a vow, took the chariot-wheel in his hand; unshakable and impossible to disturb, he is armed with every kind of weapon. The verse praises the Lord’s readiness to act decisively for righteousness and to protect those who take refuge in him, even when it requires setting aside ordinary restraint.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Divine is not merely contemplative but actively protective: steadfast (akṣobhya) and fully capable (sarvapraharaṇāyudha), the Lord will take whatever form of action is needed to uphold dharma and safeguard those bound by truth and vows.
Bhishma is eulogizing Krishna through a chain of iconic epithets and weapons. The phrase rathāṅga-pāṇi recalls Krishna’s dramatic readiness to seize a chariot-wheel as a weapon to preserve a pledge and protect his devotee—an emblem of decisive intervention in the Kurukṣetra context.