Shloka 111
न किंचित् प्रत्यपद्यन्त पुत्रास्ते भरतर्षभ | भरतश्रेष्ठ! उन महान् शक्तिशाली एवं भरत-वंशियोंके पितामह भीष्मके मारे जानेपर आपके पुत्रोंको कुछ भी सूझ नहीं पड़ता था || ११० ई ।। सम्मोहश्चैव तुमुल: कुरूणामभवत् तदा
na kiñcit pratyapadyanta putrās te bharatarṣabha | bharataśreṣṭha! tān mahān śaktimān ca bharatavaṃśīnāṃ pitāmahaḥ bhīṣmaḥ hataḥ; tasmin hate tava putrāṇāṃ kiñcid api na pratyabhavat || sammohaś caiva tumulaḥ kurūṇām abhavat tadā ||
Sañjaya said: “O bull among the Bharatas, your sons could not collect themselves at all. O best of the Bharatas, when the mighty Bhīṣma—the grandsire of the Bharata line—was struck down, your sons found no counsel within themselves. At that moment a fierce and overwhelming bewilderment seized the Kurus.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a dharmic elder and strategic pillar (Bhīṣma) can shatter morale and judgment. It implicitly warns that power without inner steadiness collapses into sammoha (bewilderment), and that ethical authority and disciplined counsel are crucial in crisis.
After Bhīṣma is brought down in battle, Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava forces—especially Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons—are stunned and unable to decide what to do. A violent confusion spreads through the Kuru ranks at that moment.