Shloka 20
भीष्म–रामजामदग्न्ययुद्धप्रस्थानवर्णनम्
Bhishma’s Account of Parashurama’s Challenge and the March to Kurukshetra
ततो<हं राममासाद्य बाणवर्षैक्ष॒ कौरव । अवाकिरं सुसंरब्ध: संरब्धं च जिगीषया
tato 'haṃ rāmam āsādya bāṇavarṣaiḥ kṣa kaurava | avākiraṃ susaṃrabdhaḥ saṃrabdhaṃ ca jigīṣayā ||
Then, O Kaurava, I approached Rāma (Paraśurāma) and, inflamed with fierce anger and driven by the resolve to overcome him, I began to shower him with volleys of arrows.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights steadfastness in one’s chosen dharma: Bhīṣma, though facing a revered figure, acts according to his warrior obligation and personal vow, showing how duty and honor can demand difficult, morally weighty confrontations.
Bhīṣma narrates that he went to Paraśurāma and, burning with anger and determined to win, began attacking him by releasing a rain of arrows—marking the escalation into direct combat.