Shloka 543
भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः
Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas
युगान्तमिव कुर्वाणं भीष्म यौधिष्छिरे बले । भगवान् श्रीकृष्णने देखा कि अर्जुन मन लगाकर युद्ध नहीं कर रहे हैं। वे भीष्मके प्रति कोमलता दिखा रहे हैं और उधर भीष्म युद्धमें सेनाके मध्यभागमें खड़े हो निरन्तर बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए दोपहरके सूर्यके समान तप रहे हैं। पाण्डवसेनाके चुने हुए उत्तमोत्तम वीरोंको मार रहे हैं और युधिष्ठिरसेनामें प्रलयकालका-सा दृश्य उपस्थित कर रहे हैं
yugāntam iva kurvāṇaṃ bhīṣmaṃ yodhiṣṭhire bale | bhagavān śrīkṛṣṇo dadarśa yac cārjunaḥ samāhitaṃ yuddhaṃ na karoti, bhīṣme prati ca mārdavaṃ darśayati; atha bhīṣmo yuddhe senā-madhye sthitvā nirantaraṃ bāṇa-varṣaṃ kṛtvā madhyāhna-sūrya iva tapan, pāṇḍava-senāyāḥ varān varān vīrān nihanty, yudhiṣṭhira-senāyāṃ pralaya-kāla iva dṛśyaṃ janayati ||
Sañjaya said: “Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa observed that Arjuna, his mind softened toward Bhīṣma, was not fighting with full resolve. Meanwhile Bhīṣma stood in the very midst of the battle-line, pouring forth an unbroken rain of arrows, blazing like the midday sun. He struck down the finest chosen warriors of the Pāṇḍava host and made the army of Yudhiṣṭhira appear as though the hour of dissolution had arrived.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights a dharmic tension: personal tenderness and reverence (toward an elder like Bhīṣma) can weaken a warrior’s resolve, yet the demands of righteous duty in a just war require steadiness. Kṛṣṇa’s noticing Arjuna’s hesitation underscores the need for disciplined action guided by dharma rather than by wavering emotion.
Sañjaya reports that Kṛṣṇa observes Arjuna not fighting wholeheartedly because of softness toward Bhīṣma. At the same time, Bhīṣma stands at the center of the battlefield, continuously showering arrows, blazing like the midday sun, cutting down elite Pāṇḍava warriors and creating a doomsday-like devastation in Yudhiṣṭhira’s forces.