Shloka 85
Vāsudeva-Māhātmya: Duryodhana’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Theological Account of Keśava
न मे रथी सात्वत कौरवाणां क्रुद्धस्य मुच्येत रणेड्द्य कश्चित् । तस्मादहं गृहा रथाड्रमुग्रं प्राणं हरिष्यामि महाव्रतस्य,'सात्वत वीर! आज कौरव-सेनाका कोई भी रथी क्रोधमें भरे हुए मुझ कृष्णके हाथसे जीवित नहीं छूट सकता। मैं अपना भयंकर चक्र लेकर महान् व्रतधारी भीष्मके प्राण हर लूँगा
sañjaya uvāca |
na me rathī sātvatakauravāṇāṃ kruddhasya mucyeta raṇe ’dya kaścit |
tasmād ahaṃ gṛhya rathāgram ugraṃ prāṇaṃ hariṣyāmi mahāvratasya ||
Sañjaya said: “Today, when I (Kṛṣṇa) am inflamed with wrath, no chariot-warrior of the Kauravas will escape me alive on the battlefield. Therefore, taking up the terrible foremost weapon of my chariot—the cakra—I shall take the life of the great vow-holder (Bhīṣma).”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic crisis in war: even a protector committed to restraint may be driven to fierce action when injustice seems unchecked. It foregrounds the tension between vows/rules of combat and the urgent duty to protect the righteous, showing how anger and compassion can collide in moments of moral extremity.
Sañjaya reports Kṛṣṇa’s resolve on the battlefield: in anger, he declares that no Kaurava chariot-warrior will escape him that day, and that he will seize the chariot’s foremost weapon (understood as the wheel) to slay Bhīṣma, the renowned great vow-holder.