Shloka 9
Ulūpī’s Disclosure and the Saṃjīvana-Maṇi: Arjuna’s Restoration (उलूपी-प्रकटनं संजीवनमणि-स्थापनं च)
न हि भीष्मस्त्वया वीर युद्धामानो हि पातित:
na hi bhīṣmas tvayā vīra yuddhamāno hi pātitaḥ
Arjuna said: “For Bhīṣma was not struck down by you, O hero, while he was fighting. His fall did not come from your direct prowess in open combat.”
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical scrutiny of victory in war: mere outcome is not the whole measure of valor or righteousness. Arjuna stresses that Bhīṣma’s fall was not due to straightforward overpowering in fair combat, implying that moral responsibility and the manner of victory matter in dharma.
Arjuna addresses a warrior (vocatively ‘vīra’) and clarifies a point about Bhīṣma’s downfall in the Kurukṣetra war: Bhīṣma was not directly felled by that person while actively fighting. The statement functions as a correction or ethical assessment of credit/blame for Bhīṣma’s fall.