Shloka 12
तं हतं यज्ञसेनस्य पुत्रेणेह शिखण्डिना । पाण्डवेयाभिगुप्तेन श्र॒ुत्वा मे व्यथितं मन:,जो तेजस्वी भीष्म साक्षात् वसुके अवतार थे और युद्धमें प्रतिदिन दस हजार कवचधारी रथियोंका संहार करते थे। उन्हींको यहाँ पाण्डुपुत्र अर्जुनसे सुरक्षित ट्रपदकुमार शिखण्डीने मार डाला है, यह सुनकर मेरे मनमें बड़ी व्यथा हो रही है
taṁ hataṁ yajñasenasya putreṇeha śikhaṇḍinā | pāṇḍaveyābhiguptena śrutvā me vyathitaṁ manaḥ ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Hearing that Bhīṣma—slain here by Śikhaṇḍin, the son of Yajñasena, while protected by the Pāṇḍava—my mind is stricken with anguish. The fall of such a radiant and formidable elder, who stood as the very pillar of our cause, fills me with grief and foreboding about the moral and strategic unraveling of the war.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how even the mightiest fall when circumstances, vows, and ethical complexities converge; it also shows the inner cost of adharma-aligned attachment—Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s grief arises not only from loss but from the dawning recognition that the war’s moral and strategic foundations are collapsing.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts to the report that Bhīṣma has been brought down in battle by Śikhaṇḍin, who is effectively enabled by the Pāṇḍava side (with Arjuna’s protection). The king’s lament frames Bhīṣma’s fall as a decisive turning point in the Kurukṣetra war.