Shloka 23
तस्मिंस्तु दशमे प्राप्ते दिवसे भरतर्षभ । भीष्मेणैकेन मत्स्येषु पज्चालेषु च संयुगे
sañjaya uvāca |
tasmiṃstu daśame prāpte divase bharatarṣabha |
bhīṣmeṇaikena matsyeṣu pāñcāleṣu ca saṃyuge |
śikṣābalena nihataṃ pitrā tava viśāṃpate ||
Sañjaya said: “O bull among the Bharatas, when the tenth day arrived, Bhīṣma alone, in the battle against the Matsyas and the Pāñcālas, struck down countless warriors by the sheer power of his martial training. O lord of the people, your father-like elder Bhīṣma, through the force of his disciplined mastery of weapons, wrought immense slaughter in that great war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the formidable power of disciplined training (śikṣā-bala) in a kṣatriya context, while implicitly raising the ethical weight of warfare: mastery and duty can produce vast destruction, and the epic’s narration invites reflection on the cost of dharma pursued through battle.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that on the tenth day of the Kurukṣetra war, Bhīṣma alone fought fiercely against forces associated with Matsya and Pañcāla, killing large numbers through his superior training and weapon-skill.