Shloka 5
भीष्म-पर्व अध्याय १०० — त्रिगर्त-आक्रमण, भीष्म-केन्द्रित पुनर्संयोजन, तथा शक्त्यस्त्र-विनिमय
अवध्यमानास्ते चापि क्षपयन्ति बल॑ मम । सो<स्मि क्षीणबल: कर्ण क्षीणशस्त्रश्न संयुगे,“वे पाण्डव स्वयं अवध्य रहकर मेरी सेनाका संहार कर रहे हैं। कर्ण! इस प्रकार मेरी सेना तथा अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंका युद्धमें क्षय होता चला जा रहा है
avadhyamānās te cāpi kṣapayanti balaṁ mama | so 'smi kṣīṇabalaḥ karṇa kṣīṇaśastraś ca saṁyuge ||
Sañjaya said: “Though they themselves remain unassailable, they are wearing down my forces. O Karṇa, thus in this battle I have become depleted in strength, and my weapons too are being exhausted.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and strategic reality that mere possession of an army is not enough: when opponents are effectively ‘unassailable’ through skill, protection, or circumstance, one’s strength and resources steadily erode. It underscores impermanence of power in war and the urgency of right counsel and strategy.
Sañjaya reports the battlefield situation to Karṇa: the Pāṇḍavas are successfully cutting down the Kaurava forces while remaining difficult to strike down themselves. As a result, the Kaurava side is becoming weakened, and their stock of weapons and fighting capacity is being consumed in the ongoing combat.