Shloka 16
Bhīṣma’s Recollection of the Duel: Charioteer’s Fall, Brahmin Protection, and Portents after Rāma’s Collapse
ततस्तत्प्रतिघातार्थ ब्राह्ममेवास्त्रमुत्तमम् । मया प्रयुक्त जज्वाल युगान्तमिव दर्शयत्
tatastatpratighātārthaṁ brāhmam evāstram uttamam | mayā prayuktaṁ jajvāla yugāntam iva darśayat ||
Then, in order to counter that very strike, I employed the supreme Brahma-weapon. Released by me, it blazed forth, presenting a vision like the end of an age—an apocalyptic display that signals how escalation in warfare can summon forces beyond ordinary human control.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral danger of escalation: when one answers a powerful attack with an even greater divine weapon, the conflict can assume world-ending proportions. It implicitly warns that extraordinary force, even when used as a countermeasure, carries catastrophic risk and demands restraint and discernment.
Bhīṣma says that to neutralize the opponent’s strike, he released the supreme Brahma-weapon. Once deployed, it flared up with an apocalyptic brilliance, resembling the end-of-age destruction (yugānta).