Shloka 35
विनिधघ्नन् पृथिवीपालांश्वेदिपाज्चालकेकयान्
vinidhaghnan pṛthivīpālāñ chedi-pāñcāla-kekayān | “mūrkha duryodhana naukārahitaḥ vipattike sāgare dūba rahā thā; ataḥ bhīṣmaḥ tasya uddhāraṃ kartum aicchat | sa cedi-pāñcāla-kekaya-nṛpān vadhayan ratha-aśva-rathibhiḥ paripūrṇāṃ pāṇḍava-senāṃ bhasma-sāt cakāra” ||
Sañjaya dijo: «Dando muerte a los reyes de Cedi, Panchala y Kekaya, Bhīṣma—deseoso de rescatar al necio Duryodhana, como a un hombre que se hunde en un océano de peligros sin barca—redujo a cenizas el ejército de los Pāṇḍava, atestado de carros, caballos y guerreros de carro». El pasaje presenta la ferocidad de Bhīṣma como un acto de leal amparo hacia los suyos, aun cuando intensifica la tragedia moral del fratricidio en la guerra.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how loyalty and the impulse to protect one’s own can drive extreme violence in war. It implicitly raises a dharmic tension: even a revered elder like Bhishma, acting from duty and allegiance, becomes an instrument of vast destruction—showing how adharma at the leadership level (Duryodhana’s folly) pulls many into catastrophic consequences.
Sanjaya describes Bhishma’s battlefield onslaught: to save Duryodhana, portrayed as drowning in a crisis, Bhishma kills prominent allied kings of the Pandavas’ side (Cedi, Panchala, Kekaya) and devastates the Pandava forces filled with chariots, horses, and chariot-fighters.