Shloka 12
को हि शक्तो रणे पार्थ भारतानां महारथौ । भीष्पद्रोणौ युधा जेतुं शक्रतुल्यपराक्रमौ,“कुन्तीनन्दन! भरतवंशियोंकी सेनाके दो महारथी इन्द्रतुल्य पराक्रमी भीष्म और द्रोणको रणभूमिमें युद्ध करते समय कौन जीत सकता था?
ko hi śakto raṇe pārtha bhāratānāṃ mahārathau | bhīṣma-droṇau yudhā jetuṃ śakra-tulya-parākramau ||
Sañjaya said: “O Pārtha, who among the Bhāratas could, in battle, defeat in combat those two great chariot-warriors—Bhīṣma and Droṇa—whose prowess was equal to Indra’s?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores human limitation before extraordinary merit: some warriors embody such accumulated skill, discipline, and divine-like valor that victory over them is not merely a matter of desire but of capability, circumstance, and destiny. It also frames martial excellence as something that commands respect even amid enmity.
Sañjaya addresses Arjuna (Pārtha) and rhetorically asks who could defeat Bhīṣma and Droṇa in open battle, emphasizing their near-unconquerable status. The statement functions as a reminder of the formidable strength of the Kuru champions and heightens the gravity of the war’s unfolding events.