Shloka 23
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय 54: फल्गुन-प्रतिरोधः, सौबली-व्यूह-विध्वंसः, दुर्योधन-भीष्म-संवादः
स त्वं पश्य महाभाग योगेश्वर महारथम् । भीष्म॑ यः: शमयेत् संख्ये दावाग्निंजलदो यथा
sa tvaṁ paśya mahābhāga yogeśvara mahāratham | bhīṣmaṁ yaḥ śamayet saṅkhye dāvāgniṁ jalado yathā ||
Sanjaya said: “Therefore, O greatly fortunate one, O lord of yoga, look for and recognize that great chariot-warrior who, on the battlefield, can bring Bhishma to quiet—just as a rain-cloud extinguishes a raging forest fire.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and strategic necessity of restraint in war: when a formidable force becomes unstoppable, leadership must seek a means to neutralize it with minimal chaos—symbolized by the cooling, quenching power of a rain-cloud over a forest fire.
Sanjaya, reporting the war situation, urges the addressed hero (called “Mahābhāga” and “Yogeśvara”) to identify a champion capable of subduing Bhishma in battle, comparing Bhishma’s destructive prowess to a wildfire and the needed counterforce to a rain-cloud.