Shloka 18
Bhīṣma’s Appraisal of Pāṇḍava-Alliance Warriors (Śikhaṇḍin, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and Allied Kings)
राक्षसेष्वथ यक्षेषु नरेषु कुत एव तु । भूतो5थवा भविष्यो वा रथ: वक्चिन्मया श्रुत:,समस्त देवताओं, असुरों, नागों, राक्षसों तथा यक्षोंमें भी अर्जुनके समान कोई नहीं है; फिर मनुष्योंमें तो हो ही कैसे सकता है? भूत या भविष्यमें भी कोई ऐसा रथी मेरे सुननेमें नहीं आया है
rākṣaseṣv atha yakṣeṣu nareṣu kuta eva tu | bhūto 'thavā bhaviṣyo vā rathaḥ kaścin mayā śrutaḥ ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Entre los rākṣasas y los yakṣas—¿qué decir entonces de los hombres?—no hay nadie comparable. Sea en el pasado o en el futuro, jamás he oído hablar de un guerrero de carro como él.» Con esta alabanza, Bhīṣma destaca la excelencia marcial sin par de Arjuna, insinuando que la verdadera destreza, por rara que sea, debe ponerse al servicio del dharma y no de la soberbia ni de la crueldad.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Exceptional power and skill are acknowledged as rare and almost unparalleled, but the implied ethical point is that such prowess gains true worth only when directed by dharma rather than by arrogance or destructive intent.
Bhīṣma is speaking in the Udyoga Parva context of assessing warriors and the coming conflict, offering authoritative praise that no being—whether among supernatural classes or humans, in past or future—matches the chariot-warrior he has in mind (understood as Arjuna).