Shloka 22
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
नास्ति युद्धे कृती कश्रिन्न विद्वान् न पराक्रमी | यत्र शान्तनवो भीष्म: शेतेडद्य निहत: शरै:,जब ये शान्तनुनन्दन भीष्म भी आज शत्रुओंके बाणोंसे मारे जाकर सो रहे हैं तो यही कहना पड़ता है कि 'युद्धमें न कोई कुशल है, न विद्वान् है और न पराक्रमी ही है”
nāsti yuddhe kṛtī kaścin na vidvān na parākramī | yatra śāntanavo bhīṣmaḥ śete ’dya nihataḥ śaraiḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: In war there is no one who can truly be called skilled, learned, or even genuinely heroic—when Bhīṣma, the son of Śāntanu, lies today brought down by arrows. The scene itself condemns the pride of warfare: if such a righteous and mighty elder can be reduced to a bed of shafts, then victory and prowess appear hollow, and the moral cost of battle stands exposed.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse undercuts the glorification of war: when even Bhīṣma—renowned for wisdom, discipline, and valor—lies felled by arrows, claims of true skill, learning, or heroism in war become morally suspect. It points to the futility and ethical devastation inherent in violent conflict.
After the catastrophic Kurukṣetra war, the narrator highlights Bhīṣma lying incapacitated on the battlefield (the famous bed of arrows). This image becomes evidence for a lament: war spares neither the great nor the righteous, and its outcomes mock human pride.