Shloka 29
Bhīṣma’s Stuti of Keśava and Counsel on Nara–Nārāyaṇa (भीष्म-स्तवः; नरनारायण-प्रसङ्गः)
एवंविध॑ कार्मुकभीमनाद- मदीनवत् सत्पुरुषोत्तमा भ्याम् । ददर्श लोक: कुरुसूंजयाश्न तद् द्वैरथं भीष्मधनंजयाभ्याम्
evaṃvidhaṃ kārmuka-bhīma-nādaṃ dainyavat satpuruṣottamābhyām | dadarśa lokaḥ kuru-sṛñjayaiś ca tad dvairathaṃ bhīṣma-dhanañjayābhyām || bāṇa-vegam atītasya tathābhyāśam upeyuṣaḥ | tvaran senāpatiḥ kruddho bibheda gadayā śiraḥ ||
Sañjaya dijo: Así, el mundo entero—junto con los Kurus y los Śṛñjayas—contempló aquel duelo de carros entre Bhīṣma y Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), marcado por el aterrador tañido de sus arcos y sin el menor signo de flaqueza. Luego, cuando un atacante saltó por encima del ímpetu de las flechas y se acercó en extremo, el comandante Dhṛṣṭadyumna, veloz y airado, descargó su maza y le partió la cabeza: muestra de cómo, en el apremio de la guerra, se emplea una fuerza decisiva para detener una carga hostil y directa.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights kṣatriya-dharma in battle: steadfastness without dejection, and swift, decisive action to neutralize an immediate threat. It also frames war as a public moral spectacle—seen by ‘the world’—where courage and resolve are tested.
Sañjaya describes a dramatic chariot-duel between Bhīṣma and Arjuna, whose bows resound fiercely as they fight without faltering. In the same battle flow, an enemy closes in past the arrow-storm, and the commander Dhṛṣṭadyumna quickly strikes him down by splitting his head with a mace.