Shloka 120
शड्खभृन्नन्दकी चक्री शार्ज्धन्वा गदाधर: । रथाड्रपाणिरक्षोभ्य: सर्वप्रहरणायुध:
śaṅkhabhṛn nandakī cakrī śārṅgadhanvā gadādharaḥ | rathāṅgapāṇir akṣobhyaḥ sarvapraharaṇāyudhaḥ ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: Él porta la caracola; empuña Nandaka; lleva el disco; sostiene el arco Śārṅga; y es portador de la maza. Él es quien, para sostener un voto, tomó en su mano la rueda del carro; inconmovible e imposible de perturbar, está armado con toda clase de armas. El verso alaba la prontitud del Señor para obrar con decisión por la justicia y para proteger a quienes se refugian en Él, aun si ello exige dejar de lado la contención ordinaria.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Divine is not merely contemplative but actively protective: steadfast (akṣobhya) and fully capable (sarvapraharaṇāyudha), the Lord will take whatever form of action is needed to uphold dharma and safeguard those bound by truth and vows.
Bhishma is eulogizing Krishna through a chain of iconic epithets and weapons. The phrase rathāṅga-pāṇi recalls Krishna’s dramatic readiness to seize a chariot-wheel as a weapon to preserve a pledge and protect his devotee—an emblem of decisive intervention in the Kurukṣetra context.