Shloka 17
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ११०: पार्थभीमयोः प्रहारः तथा भीष्माभिमुखं संग्रामविस्तारः
Arjuna and Bhima’s pressure; escalation toward Bhishma
वरुण: पाशभूृच्चापि सगदो वा धनेश्वर: । न तु भीष्म: सुसंक्रुद्ध: शक््यो जेतुं महाहवे
varuṇaḥ pāśabhṛc cāpi sagado vā dhaneśvaraḥ | na tu bhīṣmaḥ susaṃkruddhaḥ śakyo jetuṃ mahāhave ||
Sañjaya said: “Even Varuṇa with his noose, or Kubera, lord of wealth, wielding his mace, may be overcome in battle; but Bhīṣma—when his wrath is fully kindled—cannot be conquered in this great war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the extraordinary, near-unassailable power of Bhīṣma when roused, implying that opposing a dharmic elder-warrior at the height of righteous wrath is both strategically perilous and ethically weighty.
Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield situation, magnifies Bhīṣma’s might by comparing him to formidable divine figures (Varuṇa and Kubera), concluding that while even such beings might be defeated, an enraged Bhīṣma in the great war cannot be.