Shloka 16
अध्याय १५९ — रात्रौ श्रमविरामः
Night Exhaustion and Brief Pause in Battle
तस्मिन् विनिहते वीरे बाह्लीके पुरुषर्षभ
tasmin vinihate vīre bāhlīke puruṣarṣabha
Sañjaya said: When that heroic warrior—Bāhlīka—had been slain, O bull among men, the course of the battle turned upon the moral weight of a fallen elder and the fierce resolve that such a death awakens in those who remain.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a prominent warrior—especially an elder—becomes an ethical and emotional turning point in war: death intensifies both grief and the impulse toward retaliation, testing restraint and dharma amid violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bāhlīka, described as a heroic warrior, has been slain; the line sets up the ensuing reactions and developments on the battlefield that follow this death.