Shloka 25
द्रोणपर्व (अध्याय १) — भीष्मनिधनानन्तरं धृतराष्ट्रस्य शोकः, सेनायाः स्थितिः, कर्णस्मरणं च
Droṇa Parva, Chapter 1: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s grief after Bhīṣma’s fall and the army’s reorientation toward Karṇa
पतिते भरतश्रेष्ठे बभूव कुरुवाहिनी । द्यौरिवापेतनक्षत्रा हीनं खमिव वायुना,भरतशिरोमणि भीष्मके धराशायी हो जानेपर कौरव-सेना नक्षत्ररहित आकाश, वायुशून्य अन्तरिक्ष, नष्ट हुई खेतीवाली भूमि, असंस्कृत वाणी तथा राजा बलिके बाँध लिये जानेपर नायकविहीन हुई असुरोंकी सेनाके समान उद्विग्न, असमर्थ और श्रीहीन हो गयी
patite bharataśreṣṭhe babhūva kuruvāhinī | dyaur ivāpetanakṣatrā hīnaṃ kham iva vāyunā ||
Sañjaya said: When Bhīṣma—the foremost of the Bharatas—fell, the Kuru host became shaken and diminished in splendor. It was like the sky bereft of its stars, like the open firmament emptied of wind: leaderless, dispirited, and unable to act with its former strength. The verse underscores how the fall of a righteous, stabilizing elder in war brings not only tactical loss but a moral and psychological collapse in the army that depended on him.
संजय उवाच