Shloka 185
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
यदाश्रौषं शरतल्पे शयानं वृद्ध वीरं सादितं चित्रपुड्खै: । भीष्म कृत्वा सोमकानल्पशेषां- स््तदा नाशंसे विजयाय संजय,जब मैंने सुना कि हमारे वृद्ध वीर भीष्मपितामह अधिकांश सोमकवंशी योद्धाओंका वध करके अर्जुनके बाणोंसे क्षत-विक्षत शरीर हो शरशय्यापर शयन कर रहे हैं, संजय! तभी मैंने समझ लिया अब मेरी विजय नहीं हो सकती
yadāśrauṣaṃ śaratālpe śayānaṃ vṛddha-vīraṃ sāditaṃ citrapuḍkhaiḥ | bhīṣmaṃ kṛtvā somakān alpaśeṣāṃs tadā nāśaṃse vijayāya, saṃjaya ||
When I heard that the aged hero Bhīṣma—after leaving the Somakas with only a few survivors—had been struck and torn by Arjuna’s arrows and now lay upon a bed of shafts, then, Saṃjaya, I no longer expected victory. The fall of the venerable grandsire, even after his terrible slaughter, is taken as an ethical and strategic omen: if such a pillar of the Kuru cause can be brought down, the war’s outcome has turned against us.
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a righteous and formidable elder (Bhīṣma) functions as a moral and strategic turning point: when the strongest support of an unjust cause collapses, confidence in victory dissolves, suggesting that adharma ultimately undermines itself.
The speaker tells Saṃjaya that upon hearing Bhīṣma—after devastating the Somakas—has been pierced by Arjuna’s arrows and lies on an arrow-bed, he concludes that his side can no longer win.