Shloka 30
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय 54: फल्गुन-प्रतिरोधः, सौबली-व्यूह-विध्वंसः, दुर्योधन-भीष्म-संवादः
शिखण्डी च महाबाहो भीष्मस्य निधनं किल,(करिष्यति न संदेहो नृपाणां युधि पश्यताम् ।) “महाबाहो! निश्चय ही इन समस्त राजाओंके देखते-देखते यह शिखण्डी भीष्मका वध कर डालेगा, इसमें तनिक भी संदेह नहीं है”
sañjaya uvāca | śikhaṇḍī ca mahābāho bhīṣmasya nidhanaṃ kila | kariṣyati na saṃdeho nṛpāṇāṃ yudhi paśyatām ||
Sañjaya said: “O mighty-armed one, it is indeed certain that Śikhaṇḍī will bring about Bhīṣma’s death—there is no doubt of it—while the kings look on in the midst of battle.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability of outcomes shaped by prior vows, boons, and moral constraints: even the mightiest warrior (Bhīṣma) can be brought down when dharma-bound limitations and destiny converge, and the battlefield becomes a stage where ethical rules affect tactical reality.
Sañjaya informs Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Śikhaṇḍī will certainly be the cause of Bhīṣma’s death, and that this will occur openly in battle before the assembled kings—foreshadowing Bhīṣma’s fall when he refuses to fight Śikhaṇḍī and is then struck down.