Shloka 14

Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)

Devanagari script

यस्य नास्ति समो लोके शौर्ये वीर्ये च कश्नन । स एष निहत:ः शेते भीष्मो भीष्मकृताहवे,संसारमें शौर्य और बलमें जिनकी समानता करनेवाला दूसरा कोई नहीं है, वे ही ये युद्धमें भयंकर कर्म करनेवाले भीष्मजी घायल हो बाणशय्यापर सो रहे हैं

Transliteration

yasya nāsti samo loke śaurye vīrye ca kaścana | sa eṣa nihataḥ śete bhīṣmo bhīṣmakṛtāhave ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “In this world there is none equal to him in valor and strength. Yet that very Bhīṣma—whose deeds in battle were terrible—now lies struck down, resting upon a bed of arrows.”

Word by Word

यस्यwhose

नnot

अस्तिis/exists

समःequal (one)

लोकेin the world

शौर्येin valor

वीर्येin strength/power

चand

कश्चनanyone (at all)

सःhe

एषःthis (man)

निहतःslain/struck down

शेतेlies (reclines)

भीष्मःBhishma

भीष्मकृताहवेin the battle made terrible (by Bhishma/terrible deeds)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Bhīṣma

battle (āhava)

bed of arrows (bāṇaśayyā, implied by context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the transience of worldly power: unmatched valor and strength cannot ultimately prevent downfall in war. It invites ethical reflection on the cost of violence and the humbling force of fate/time even upon the noblest and mightiest.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana points out that Bhīṣma—peerless in heroism and martial strength—has been struck down in the great war and now lies incapacitated, resting on the famed bed of arrows.