Shloka 15
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
यः स शक्र इवाक्षय्यं वर्ष शरमयं क्षिपन् जघान युधि योधानामर्बुदं दशभिर्दिनै:,जिन्होंने इन्द्रके समान युद्धमें दस दिनोंतक अक्षय बाणोंकी वर्षा करके दस करोड़ विपक्षी सेनाओंका संहार कर डाला, वे ही भरतवंशी वीर भीष्म मेरी कुमन्त्रणाके कारण आँधीसे उखाड़े गये वृक्षकी भाँति युद्धमें मारे जाकर पृथ्वीपर शयन कर रहे हैं, वे कदापि इसके योग्य नहीं थे
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | yaḥ sa śakra ivākṣayyaṁ varṣaśaramayaṁ kṣipan jaghāna yudhi yodhānām arbudaṁ daśabhir dinaiḥ | sa eva bharatavaṁśī vīro bhīṣmo mama kumantreṇa āndhyā (vāyunā) ukhāḍhita-vṛkṣa iva yuddhe hataḥ pṛthivyāṁ śete | sa kadācid api etad-yogyo na āsīt |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: He who, like Indra, showered an inexhaustible rain of arrows and in battle destroyed a vast host of warriors within ten days— that very Bhīṣma, the heroic scion of the Bharata line, lies slain upon the earth, like a tree torn up by a storm, because of my evil counsel. He was never fit to meet such an end.
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral accountability in leadership: Dhṛtarāṣṭra recognizes that destructive outcomes in war are not merely ‘fate’ but are tied to one’s own unethical counsel and choices, and that even the greatest warrior can be brought low when adharma governs decision-making.
After Bhīṣma has fallen in the Kurukṣetra war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra laments that the same Bhīṣma who once annihilated immense forces with an Indra-like rain of arrows for ten days now lies slain on the battlefield; he attributes this tragic end to his own misguided counsel.