Shloka 15
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
पश्य शान्तनवं कृष्ण शयान सूर्यवर्चसम् । युगान्त इव कालेन पतितं सूर्यमम्बरात्,श्रीकृष्ण! देखो, ये सूर्यके समान तेजस्वी शान्तनुनन्दन भीष्म कैसे सो रहे हैं, ऐसा जान पड़ता है, मानो प्रलयकालमें कालसे प्रेरित हो सूर्यदेव आकाशसे भूमिपर गिर पड़े हैं
paśya śāntanavaṁ kṛṣṇa śayānaṁ sūryavarcasaṁ | yugānta iva kālena patitaṁ sūryam ambarāt ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Behold, O Kṛṣṇa, Śāntanu’s son lying there, radiant like the sun. He appears like the sun itself fallen from the sky, as if at the end of an age, hurled down by Time.” The image underscores the moral shock of war: even the most venerable and luminous upholder of dharma can be brought low when the wheel of kāla turns, inviting reflection on impermanence, duty, and the cost of violence.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the overwhelming power of kāla (Time) and the impermanence of worldly greatness: even Bhīṣma, radiant and revered, lies brought low. Ethically, it intensifies the Mahābhārata’s warning about the catastrophic cost of war and the fragility of human glory.
Vaiśampāyana directs attention to Bhīṣma—identified as Śāntanu’s son—lying on the battlefield. His fallen state is compared to the sun dropping from the sky at yugānta, emphasizing the scene’s gravity and the sense that a world-order has been shaken.