Mahabharata 7.3.6 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 3, Shloka 6
भीष्मपातने कर्णविलापः | Karṇa’s Lament upon Seeing Bhīṣma Fallen
मोहन सर्वसैन्यस्य युधि भीष्मस्य पातनम् । ककुदं सर्वसैन्यानां लक्ष्म सर्वधनुष्मताम्
mohana sarvasainyasya yudhi bhīṣmasya pātanam | kakudaṃ sarvasainyānāṃ lakṣma sarvadhanuṣmatām
Dijo Sañjaya: En la batalla, la caída de Bhīṣma—que había sido el hechizo y la fuerza de cohesión de todo el ejército—fue como el derrumbe de la cresta del ejército y la pérdida de la gloria distintiva de todos los arqueros. Su desplome no señala sólo un revés táctico, sino una ruptura moral y psicológica en el orden de la guerra.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a single dharmic, exemplary leader can shatter collective morale and identity: strength in war is not only numbers and weapons, but also the ethical-symbolic authority embodied by figures like Bhīṣma.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield impact of Bhīṣma’s fall: he had been the army’s foremost support and the defining glory of the archers; his collapse is portrayed as the loss of the host’s ‘crest’ and its distinguishing mark.
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