Shloka 45
भीष्मस्य अप्रतिमपराक्रमः — शिखण्डिपुरस्कृतः प्रहारः
Bhīṣma’s unmatched momentum and the assault with Śikhaṇḍin in the lead
यथा हंसा महाराज तडागं प्राप्प भारत । महाराज! भरतनन्दन! जैसे हंस तालाबमें पहुँचकर उसके भीतर गोते लगाते हैं, उसी प्रकार वे बाण महामना दुःशासनके शरीरमें धँस गये ।। ४४ है ।। पीडितश्रैव पुत्रस्ते पाण्डवेन महात्मना,इस प्रकार महामना पाण्डुनन्दन अर्जुनके द्वारा पीड़ित होकर आपका पुत्र दुःशासन युद्धमें अर्जुनको छोड़कर तुरंत ही भीष्मके रथपर जा बैठा। उस समय अगाध समुद्रमें डूबते हुए दुःशासनके लिये भीष्मजी द्वीप हो गये
sañjaya uvāca | yathā haṃsā mahārāja taḍāgaṃ prāpya bhārata | majjanti salile yadvad evaṃ te bāṇā mahāmanā duḥśāsanasya śarīre nyapatanta | pīḍitaś caiva putras te pāṇḍavena mahātmanā | arjunaṃ vihāya sahasā bhīṣmasya ratham āruroha | tasmin kāle duḥśāsanāya nimagnāya agādhe sāgare bhīṣmo dvīpa ivābhavat ||
Sanjaya said: “O great king, O scion of Bharata—just as swans reach a lake and plunge into its waters, so did those arrows sink deep into the body of the high-souled Duhshasana. Tormented by the great-hearted Pandava Arjuna, your son Duhshasana abandoned Arjuna in the fight and at once mounted Bhishma’s chariot. At that moment, for Duhshasana—like one drowning in a fathomless ocean—Bhishma became as it were an island of refuge.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how, in the chaos of war, even proud warriors seek shelter when overwhelmed; it also frames Bhishma as a stabilizing protector—an ethical reminder that power and senior responsibility can become a refuge for those in संकट (distress), though the larger war remains adharma-laden.
Arjuna’s arrows pierce Duhshasana so deeply that he breaks off the engagement and quickly climbs onto Bhishma’s chariot; Bhishma is compared to an ‘island’ saving him from the ‘ocean’ of danger.