Shloka 10
सीमावृक्षे निपतिते कुरूणां समितिंजये । सेनयोरुभयो राजन क्षत्रियानू भयमाविशत्,राजन! कुरुकुलके युद्धविजयी वीर भीष्म दोनों दलोंके लिये सीमावर्ती वृक्षके समान थे। उनके गिर जानेसे उभय पक्षकी सेनाओंमें जो क्षत्रिय थे, उनके मनमें भारी भय समा गया
saṃjaya uvāca | sīmāvṛkṣe nipatite kurūṇāṃ samitiṃjaye | senayor ubhayo rājan kṣatriyānū bhayam āviśat ||
サンジャヤは言った。――王よ、戦に勝ち続け、あたかもクル族の「境の樹」ともいうべきビーシュマが倒れると、両軍のクシャトリヤたちの胸に恐れが入り込んだ。彼の存在は双方にとって守りの境界のように立っていたが、その崩落とともに、両陣の戦士は突如として無防備さと、戦の行方への不確かさを覚えたのである。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a single pillar of strength can function like a ‘boundary’ that stabilizes an entire system; when that support falls, even trained warriors are shaken. Ethically, it underscores impermanence in worldly power and the need for steadiness in dharma even when external supports collapse.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that after Bhīṣma’s fall, fear spread among the kṣatriyas on both sides. Bhīṣma had been a decisive, restraining presence in the war; his removal changes the psychological balance of the battlefield.