Shloka 70
मनुष्यलोके सकले यस्य तुल्यो न विद्यते | तेन भीष्मेण ते तात कथमासीत् समागम:,तात! जो एक ही लक्ष्यके साथ-साथ सहस्रों लक्ष्योंका वेध करनेके लिये बाण चलाता है और कहीं भी चूकता नहीं है, उस कर्णके साथ तुम्हारा युद्ध किस प्रकार हुआ? बेटा! सारे मनुष्यलोकमें जिनकी समानता करनेवाला कोई नहीं है, उन भीष्मजीके साथ तुम्हारी भिड़न्त किस प्रकार हुई?
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
manuṣyaloke sakale yasya tulyo na vidyate |
tena bhīṣmeṇa te tāta katham āsīt samāgamaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Dear child, how did you come into direct encounter with Bhīṣma—he whose equal is not found anywhere in the whole world of men?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethic of recognizing true excellence: Bhīṣma is portrayed as peerless in the human realm, and the narrative invites reflection on how one should approach, assess, and speak about extraordinary virtue and martial capability with humility and accuracy.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, asks (addressing a younger interlocutor as ‘tāta’) how the encounter with Bhīṣma took place—framing Bhīṣma as unmatched among men and setting up a recounting of the circumstances of that confrontation.