Shloka 5
भीष्म–दुर्योधनसंवादः — शिखण्डिनं न हन्तुं कारणकथनम्
Amba-ākhyāna prologue
एष योत्स्यति संग्रामे सूदयन् वै परान् रणे । भगवानिव संक्रुद्ध: पिनाकी युगसंक्षये
eṣa yotsyati saṅgrāme sūdayan vai parān raṇe | bhagavān iva saṅkruddhaḥ pinākī yugasaṅkṣaye ||
Bhīṣma said: “This one will fight in the great battle, slaughtering the enemy in the thick of combat—like the blessed Pināka-bearing Lord (Rudra), enraged at the end of an age, who brings about the destruction of creatures. So will he wage war, terrible in wrath and irresistible in force.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield ferocity within a dharmic-epic register: a warrior’s overwhelming force is likened to Rudra’s cosmic destruction at the yuga’s end, emphasizing the awe and inevitability of martial power when righteous conflict becomes unavoidable.
Bhīṣma is describing a particular warrior’s future conduct in the coming war, predicting that he will fight with devastating effectiveness, and he heightens the description through a comparison to Rudra (Śiva) wielding Pināka during cosmic dissolution.