नादो<यं कीदृशो देव नैतं विद्य वयं प्रभो । को5सौ हि कस्य वा नादो येन विह्वलितं जगत्
nādo ’yaṃ kīdṛśo deva naitaṃ vidma vayaṃ prabho | ko ’sau hi kasya vā nādo yena vihvalitaṃ jagat ||
Bhīṣma said: “O divine one, what kind of sound is this? We do not understand it, O lord. Whose sound is it—who is making it—by which the whole world seems thrown into agitation and bewilderment?”
भीष्म उवाच
The verse highlights intellectual humility and dharmic inquiry: when confronted with overwhelming or uncanny phenomena, the wise do not pretend certainty but ask carefully—seeking the source and meaning before reacting.
Bhīṣma addresses a divine or authoritative figure, expressing that neither he nor others can identify a powerful sound that has unsettled the world, and he asks whose sound it is and what its source may be.