Shloka 13
Bhīṣma’s Retrospective of the Jāmadagnya Rāma Encounter
Divyāstra-Pratiyuddha and Twilight Cessation
रक्ष्यमाणश्ष तैविंप्रै्नाह भूमिमुपास्पृशम् । अन्तरिक्षे धृतो हास्मि तैर्विप्रैबन्धवैरिव,उन ब्राह्मणोंसे सुरक्षित होनेके कारण मुझे धरतीका स्पर्श नहीं करना पड़ा। मेरे सगे भाई-बन्धुओंकी भाँति उन ब्राह्मणोंने मुझे आकाशमें ही रोक लिया था
rakṣyamāṇaś ca tair viprair nāha bhūmim upāspṛśam | antarikṣe dhṛto hāsmi tair viprair bandhuvair iva ||
“Being protected by those brahmins, I did not have to touch the earth. Those brahmins held me aloft in the sky, as if they were my own kinsmen.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dharmic power of brahmins—learned and righteous protectors—whose safeguarding is portrayed as both spiritually potent and emotionally akin to familial care, emphasizing reverence for virtue and gratitude toward benefactors.
Bhishma recounts an episode in which brahmins protect him so effectively that he does not even touch the ground; instead, they keep him suspended in mid-air, treating him like their own relative.