Shloka 2
भीष्मपातने कर्णविलापः | Karṇa’s Lament upon Seeing Bhīṣma Fallen
संजय कहते हैं--महाराज! अमित तेजस्वी महात्मा भीष्म बाण-शय्यापर सो रहे थे। उस समय वे प्रलयकालीन महावायुसमूहसे सोख लिये गये समुद्रके समान जान पड़ते थे ।। दृष्टवा पितामहं भीष्म॑ सर्वक्षत्रान्तकं गुरुम् । दिव्यैरस्त्रैर्महेष्वासं पातितं सव्यसाचिना,समस्त क्षत्रियोंका अन्त करनेमें समर्थ गुरु एवं पितामह महाधनुर्धर भीष्मको सव्यसाची अर्जुनने अपने दिव्यास्त्रोंके द्वारा मार गिराया था। उन्हें उस अवस्थामें देखकर आपके पुत्रोंकी विजयकी आशा भंग हो गयी। उन्हें अपने कल्याणकी भी आशा नहीं रही। उनके रक्षाकवच भी छिजन्न-भिन्न हो गये। कहीं पार न पानेवाले तथा अथाह समुद्रमें थाह चाहनेवाले कौरवोंके लिये भीष्मजी द्वीपके समान आश्रय थे, जो पार्थद्वारा धधाशायी कर दिये गये थे
sañjaya uvāca—mahārāja! amita-tejasvī mahātmā bhīṣmo bāṇa-śayyāyāṃ śete sma. sa kāle pralayasya mahā-vāyu-saṃghaiḥ śoṣita-samudra iva dṛśyate sma. dṛṣṭvā pitāmahaṃ bhīṣmaṃ sarva-kṣatrāntakaṃ guruṃ divyair astrair maheṣvāsaṃ pātitaṃ savyasācinā, tava putrāṇāṃ vijayāśā bhagnā; na ca svasti-āśā teṣām. kavacāni ca teṣāṃ chinnāni bhinnāni. apāra-gambhīre samudre thāhaṃ mṛgayamāṇānāṃ kauravāṇāṃ bhīṣmaḥ dvīpa iva āśrayaḥ, sa pārthena śarāśayī-kṛtaḥ.
Sañjaya said: O King, the great-souled Bhishma, of immeasurable splendor, lay upon a bed of arrows. In that moment he appeared like the ocean dried up by the mighty winds at the time of dissolution. Seeing that grandsire Bhishma—teacher and bowman of supreme prowess, capable of bringing the whole Kshatriya order to its end—had been brought down by Savyasachi Arjuna with divine weapons, your sons’ hope of victory collapsed. Even hope for their own welfare deserted them; their protective armor seemed torn and shattered. For the Kauravas, who were like men seeking the bottom in a boundless, unfathomable sea, Bhishma had been an island of refuge—now made to lie as a heap of arrows by Partha.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores impermanence and the ethical weight of war: when a revered protector and teacher falls, confidence based on power and patronage collapses. It also highlights how reliance on a single pillar (Bhishma) can mask deeper moral and strategic fragility, forcing a confrontation with consequences.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Bhishma lies on a bed of arrows, felled by Arjuna using divine weapons. Seeing Bhishma’s condition, the Kauravas’ hope of victory and even personal safety breaks, because Bhishma had been their chief refuge—like an island in a vast sea.