Shloka 21
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
यः स्पर्धते रणे नित्यं जामदग्न्यं महाबलम् | अजितं जामदग्न्येन शक्रतुल्यपराक्रमम्,जो रणभूमिमें महाबली जमदग्निनन्दन परशुरामसे भी टक्कर लेनेकी सदा इच्छा रखते थे, जिनका पराक्रम इन्द्रके समान था और परशुरामजी भी जिन्हें पराजित न कर सके थे; संजय! महारथियोंके कुलमें प्रकट हुए वे महावीर भीष्म समरभूमिमें किस प्रकार मारे गये, यह मुझे बताओ; क्योंकि मुझे शान्ति नहीं मिल रही है
yaḥ spardhate raṇe nityaṁ jāmadagnyaṁ mahābalam | ajitaṁ jāmadagnyena śakra-tulya-parākramam, sa yo raṇabhūmau mahā-vīro bhīṣmaḥ kathaṁ hataḥ, etad me sañjaya brūhi; na hi me śāntiḥ prāpnoti |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, tell me how that great hero Bhīṣma—born in the line of mighty chariot-warriors—could be slain on the battlefield: he who ever longed to contend in war even with the immensely powerful Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma), whose prowess was like Indra’s, and whom even Paraśurāma could not defeat. Explain this to me, for my mind finds no peace.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the mightiest warrior can fall when circumstances, strategy, and dharma-driven vows converge; Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s unrest also shows how attachment and grief cloud judgment and peace.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of Bhīṣma’s fall, asks Sañjaya to explain how Bhīṣma—so formidable that even Paraśurāma could not defeat him—was brought down in the war, because the news leaves him mentally unsettled.