Shloka 726
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
अन्ये भीष्माच्छान्तनवात् तन्ममाचक्ष्व संजय । संजय! शान्तनुनन्दन भीष्मके सिवा, उस युद्धमें कौन-कौन-से हार रहे थे, किन-किन लोगोंकी पराजय हुई तथा कौन-कौन वीर बाणोंके लक्ष्य बनकर मार गिराये गये? यह सब मुझे बताओ
anye bhīṣmāc chāntanavāt tan mamācakṣva sañjaya |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra berkata: “Sañjaya, ceritakan kepadaku dengan rinci tentang yang lain juga—selain Bhīṣma putra Śāntanu. Dalam pertempuran itu, siapa yang terdesak, siapa yang kalah, dan pahlawan mana yang menjadi sasaran anak panah lalu roboh? Sampaikan semuanya kepadaku.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension of war-reporting: a ruler’s desire to know outcomes (victory, defeat, deaths) reflects attachment and anxiety, while the narrator is tasked with truthful, comprehensive witnessing. It frames the battle not merely as spectacle but as an ethically weighty accounting of human loss and responsibility.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra questions Sañjaya, asking him to report the broader course of the battle beyond Bhīṣma—specifically who is being overpowered, who has been defeated, and which warriors have been struck down as targets of arrows.