Shloka 23
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
मामका: के महेष्वासा नाजहु: संजयाच्युतम् । दुर्योधनसमादिष्टा: के वीरा: पर्यवारयन्,संजय! कभी युद्धसे पीछे न हटनेवाले भीष्मजीका मेरे पक्षके किन महाधनुर्धरोंने साथ नहीं छोड़ा? दुर्योधनकी आज्ञा पाकर किन-किन वीरोंने उन्हें सब ओरसे घेर रखा था?
māmakāḥ ke maheṣvāsā nājahuḥ sañjayācyutam | duryodhana-samādiṣṭāḥ ke vīrāḥ paryavārayan, sañjaya |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, which great bowmen on my side did not abandon Bhīṣma—unyielding in battle? And, acting under Duryodhana’s command, which heroes surrounded and protected him on every side?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethics of wartime leadership: a commander’s safety depends on disciplined loyalty and coordinated protection by capable warriors, while also revealing Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s anxious dependence on reports rather than direct moral clarity.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sañjaya to identify which Kaurava great archers stayed with Bhīṣma and which warriors, under Duryodhana’s orders, formed a protective encirclement around him in battle.