Shloka 19
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ११०: पार्थभीमयोः प्रहारः तथा भीष्माभिमुखं संग्रामविस्तारः
Arjuna and Bhima’s pressure; escalation toward Bhishma
वन॑ यास्यामि दुर्धर्ष श्रेयो वै तत्र मे गतम् । न युद्ध रोचते कृष्ण हन्ति भीष्मो हि न: सदा
vanaṁ yāsyāmi durdharṣa śreyo vai tatra me gatam | na yuddhaṁ rocate kṛṣṇa hanti bhīṣmo hi naḥ sadā ||
Sañjaya said: “O unconquerable one, I will go to the forest; for me, going there seems truly the better course. I find no taste for this war, O Kṛṣṇa, for Bhīṣma keeps on destroying our forces again and again.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical-psychological crisis that prolonged violence produces: when a seemingly invincible warrior (Bhīṣma) repeatedly devastates one’s side, the mind seeks “śreyas” (the better good) not in escalation but in withdrawal. It frames retreat to the forest as a moral and existential alternative to participation in destructive conflict.
Sañjaya voices a loss of will for battle and proposes leaving for the forest, addressing Kṛṣṇa and citing Bhīṣma’s continual slaughter of their troops as the reason. The statement conveys collapsing morale and the perception that the battlefield has become untenable under Bhīṣma’s dominance.