Shloka 21
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ११०: पार्थभीमयोः प्रहारः तथा भीष्माभिमुखं संग्रामविस्तारः
Arjuna and Bhima’s pressure; escalation toward Bhishma
क्षयं नीतो5स्मि वार्ष्णेय राज्यहेतो: पराक्रमी । भ्रातरश्वैव मे शूरा: सायकैर्भशपीडिता:
sañjaya uvāca | kṣayaṃ nīto ’smi vārṣṇeya rājy-hetoḥ parākramī | bhrātaraś caiva me śūrāḥ sāyakair bhṛśa-pīḍitāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O Vārṣṇeya, though I have shown valor for the sake of kingship, I am being driven toward exhaustion and ruin. And my heroic brothers too are being grievously tormented by the arrows.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Prowess pursued for the sake of power (rājya) can culminate in personal depletion and collective suffering; the verse highlights the ethical cost of ambition when it manifests as warfare and injury to one’s own kin.
Sanjaya reports a warrior’s lament addressed to Kṛṣṇa (Vārṣṇeya): despite fighting bravely for kingship, he feels himself nearing ruin, while his brothers are severely wounded and distressed by volleys of arrows.