Shloka 90
Śaineya’s Breakthrough and Reunion with Arjuna (शैनेयस्य समागमः)
भीष्मस्य समरे राजन मृत्योहेतुं महात्मन: । विदर्शयन् बल॑ शूर: शार्टूल इव कुज्जरम्,राजन! जैसे सिंह हाथीपर आक्रमण करता है, उसी प्रकार उस रणक्षेत्रमें कुपित हुए शूरवीर कृतवर्माने समरांगणमें महात्मा भीष्मकी मृत्युका कारण बने हुए महारथी शिखण्डीपर अपने बलका प्रदर्शन करते हुए बड़े वेगसे धावा किया
sañjaya uvāca |
bhīṣmasya samare rājan mṛtyoḥ hetuṃ mahātmanaḥ |
vidarśayan balaṃ śūraḥ śārṭūla iva kuñjaram ||
Sañjaya said: O King, in that battle the valiant Kṛtavarman—displaying his might—charged with great speed at Śikhaṇḍin, the very instrument of death for the noble Bhīṣma, like a tiger springing upon an elephant. The scene underscores how, amid the fury of war, warriors deliberately target the perceived cause of a revered elder’s fall, intensifying the cycle of retaliation on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war magnifies causal thinking and vengeance: a warrior is singled out as the ‘cause’ of a revered elder’s downfall, prompting direct retaliation. Ethically, it points to the tragic momentum of conflict, where personal grievance and perceived responsibility drive further violence.
Sañjaya describes Kṛtavarman rushing fiercely at Śikhaṇḍin on the battlefield. Śikhaṇḍin is identified as the key agent in Bhīṣma’s fall, and Kṛtavarman attacks him with the force and ferocity likened to a tiger assaulting an elephant.