Shloka 1
[दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठका १ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ५५ “लोक हैं।] #स्न्मा+ज () अिमसन- एकोनविशर्त्याधिकशततमो< ध्याय: कौरवपक्षके प्रमुख महारथियोंद्वारा सुरक्षित होनेपर भी अर्जुनका भीष्मको रथसे गिराना, शरशय्यापर स्थित भीष्मके समीप हंसरूपधारी ऋषियोंका आगमन एवं उनके कथनसे भीष्मका उत्तरायणकी प्रतीक्षा करते हुए प्राण धारण करना संजय उवाच एवं ते पाण्डवा: सर्वे पुरस्कृत्य शिखण्डिनम् । विव्यधु: समरे भीष्म परिवार्य समन्ततः,संजय कहते हैं--राजन! इस प्रकार शिखण्डीको आगे करके सभी पाण्डवोंने समरभूमिमें भीष्मको सब ओरसे घेरकर बींधना आरम्भ किया
sañjaya uvāca | ete pāṇḍavāḥ sarve puraskṛtya śikhaṇḍinam | vivyadhuḥ samare bhīṣmaṃ parivārya samantataḥ ||
Sanjaya said: O King, placing Śikhaṇḍin in the forefront, all the Pāṇḍavas surrounded Bhīṣma on every side in the battle and began to pierce him with their arrows. The scene underscores a grim ethical tension of war: the Pāṇḍavas rely on a strategic arrangement—using Śikhaṇḍin as a shield—against a warrior bound by his own vows and codes of conduct.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how dharma in war is complicated by vows and moral constraints: Bhīṣma’s personal code affects how others engage him, and the Pāṇḍavas adopt a strategy that exploits those constraints. It invites reflection on the tension between righteous ends and ethically ambiguous means in a dharmic conflict.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Pāṇḍavas, with Śikhaṇḍin positioned at the front, encircle Bhīṣma on the battlefield and shower him with arrows, initiating the decisive phase that leads toward Bhīṣma’s incapacitation.