Shloka 109
इत्युक्त्वा तांस्तदा हंसान् स शेते शरतल्पग: । एवं कुरूणां पतिते शृज्गे भीष्मे महौजसि
ity uktvā tāṁs tadā haṁsān sa śete śaratālpagaḥ | evaṁ kurūṇāṁ patite śṛṅge bhīṣme mahaujasī ||
Sañjaya berkata: Setelah berkata demikian kepada para angsa itu, Bhīṣma—yang terbaring di atas ranjang anak panah—tetap berbaring tenang. Demikianlah, ketika Bhīṣma yang mahaperkasa, puncak kemuliaan dan kekuatan kaum Kuru, telah jatuh, seakan runtuhlah puncak pihak Kuru itu sendiri.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how the fall of a single dharmic yet war-bound elder can signal the collapse of a dynasty’s moral and strategic ‘summit’; it highlights impermanence and the heavy ethical cost of fratricidal war.
After addressing the swans, Bhīṣma remains lying on the arrow-bed; Sañjaya frames this as the moment when the Kurus’ foremost support—Bhīṣma—has fallen, indicating a decisive shift in the war’s course.