Shloka 30
भीष्मकृतः पाण्डवपक्ष-महारथ-प्रशंसा
Bhishma’s appraisal of Pandava-aligned chariot-warriors
भीष्म उवाच समुद्यतो<यं भारो मे सुमहान् सागरोपम: । धार्रराष्ट्रस्य संग्रामे वर्षपूगाभिचिन्तित:,भीष्मने कहा--सूतपुत्र! इस युद्धमें दुर्योधनका यह समुद्रके समान अत्यन्त गुरुतर भार मैंने अपने कंधोंपर उठाया है। जिसके लिये मैं बहुत वर्षोंसे चिन्तित हो रहा था, वह संतापदायक रोमांचकारी समय अब आकर उपस्थित हो ही गया, ऐसे अवसरमें मुझे यह पारस्परिक भेद नहीं उत्पन्न करना चाहिये, इसीलिये तू अभीतक जी रहा है
bhīṣma uvāca samudyato ’yaṃ bhāro me sumahān sāgaropamaḥ | dhārtarāṣṭrasya saṅgrāme varṣapūgābhicintitaḥ ||
Bhishma said: “This burden that I have taken up is immense—like an ocean. It concerns the war on behalf of Dhritarashtra’s son, and it has weighed on my mind through heaps of years. Now the long-foreseen, heat-bringing, hair-raising hour has finally arrived; at such a moment I ought not to create divisions among our own—therefore you are still alive.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma frames war as a grave moral responsibility: even when compelled by duty and long anticipation, one should avoid creating internal divisions at a critical moment, exercising restraint and prioritizing cohesion.
Bhishma speaks about having assumed an enormous, long-pondered burden connected with fighting for Duryodhana; as the decisive moment arrives, he refuses to provoke further discord within the camp, implying this is why the addressed person is spared.