Shloka 15
निहते तु तदा भीष्म॑ राजन् सत्यपराक्रमे । तावका: पाण्डवेयाश्र प्राध्यायन्त पृथक् पृथक्,राजन! जब सत्यपराक्रमी भीष्म मार दिये गये, उस समय आपके पुत्र और पाण्डव अलग-अलग चिन्ता करने लगे
nihate tu tadā bhīṣme rājan satyaparākrame | tāvakāḥ pāṇḍaveyāś ca prādhāyanta pṛthak pṛthak ||
Sañjaya said: O King, when Bhīṣma—whose prowess never failed his pledged truth—had been slain, then your sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu, each in his own way, fell into separate and private deliberation. The fall of the grandsire unsettled both sides, forcing them to confront the moral weight of the war and to reconsider strategy, resolve, and responsibility.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a principled elder like Bhīṣma becomes a moral and psychological shock: even in war, the removal of a dharma-anchored figure forces both sides to pause, reflect, and reassess responsibility, resolve, and the ethical cost of victory.
After Bhīṣma has been brought down, both the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas withdraw into separate deliberations—each side privately considering its next course of action in the war now that their foremost commander and moral pillar has fallen.