Shloka 11
Dvīpa–Sāgara–Parvata Varṇana and Svarbhānu
Rāhu) Graha-pramāṇa (Dvīpas, Oceans, Mountains, and Astral Measures
परिरक्ष्य स सेनां ते दशरात्रमनीकहा । जगामास्तमिवादित्य: कृत्वा कर्म सुदुष्करम्,जैसे गौओंका झुंड सिंहके देखते ही भयसे व्याकुल हो उठता है, उसी प्रकार जिन्हें युद्धमें हथियार उठाये देख पाण्डवोंकी विशाल वाहिनी भयसे उद्विग्न होकर थरथर काँपने लगती थी, वे ही शत्रुसैन्यसंहारक भीष्म दस दिनोंतक आपकी सेनाका संरक्षण करके अत्यन्त दुष्कर पराक्रम प्रकट करते हुए अन्तमें सूर्यकी भाँति अस्ताचलको चले गये
parirakṣya sa senāṁ te daśarātram anīkahā | jagāmāstam ivādityaḥ kṛtvā karma suduṣkaram ||
Sañjaya said: Having protected your army for ten nights, Bhīṣma—the slayer of hostile hosts—after accomplishing a most difficult feat of arms, went down like the sun setting at the end of the day. The verse frames his fall not as mere defeat but as the completion of a formidable duty in war, marking the close of his ten-day guardianship of the Kaurava forces.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-duty and the transience of worldly power: even the mightiest warrior, after fulfilling a hard obligation, must 'set' like the sun—suggesting that prowess is bounded by time, destiny, and dharma.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīṣma guarded the Kaurava forces for ten days of battle and then fell/withdrew from the fight, compared to the sun going to its setting after completing its course.