Shloka 86
निहत्य समरे राजन् शतशो5थ सहसत्रश: । न तस्यासीदनिर्भिन्न गात्रे द्वयड्गुलमन्तरम्,महाराज! समरमें भीष्म सैकड़ों और हजारों वीरोंका वध करके स्वयं इस स्थितिमें पहुँच गये थे कि उनके शरीरमें दो अंगुल भी ऐसा स्थान नहीं रह गया था, जो बाणोंसे विद्ध नहुआ हो
nihātya samare rājan śataśo ’tha sahasraśaḥ | na tasyāsīd anirbhinnā gātre dvyaṅgulam antaram mahārāja ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, having slain hundreds and then thousands in the battle, Bhīṣma reached such a condition that, O great king, on his body there was not even a space of two fingers’ breadth left that was not pierced through by arrows.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the extreme cost of war and the grim fulfillment of a warrior’s duty: even the mightiest, after vast slaughter, becomes a body marked by violence, highlighting both valor and the tragic consequences of kṣatriya warfare.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīṣma, after killing countless fighters, has been so thoroughly struck by arrows that no two-finger-wide spot on his body remains unpierced—an image associated with Bhīṣma’s fall and his being transfixed by arrows.