Shloka 5
Bhīṣma’s Recollection of the Duel: Charioteer’s Fall, Brahmin Protection, and Portents after Rāma’s Collapse
इन्द्राशनिसमस्पर्शा यमदण्डसमप्र भाम् । ज्वलन्तीमग्निवत् संख्ये लेलिहानां समनन््तत:
indrāśani-samasparśā yamadaṇḍa-samaprabhām | jvalantīm agnivat saṅkhye lelihānāṃ samantataḥ ||
その触れはインドラの雷霆のごとく恐ろしく、その光はヤマの刑杖のごとかった。戦場のただ中で火のように燃えさかり、その力は四方の血を舐め尽くすかのように見えた。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral gravity of war: when conflict escalates into instruments of death likened to Indra’s vajra and Yama’s daṇḍa, violence becomes impersonal and inexorable, reminding listeners that adharma-driven hostility invites destruction that spares none.
Bhīṣma is describing a terrifying, battle-blazing power (śakti/weapon) whose touch is compared to the thunderbolt and whose glow resembles Yama’s punitive staff; it rages like fire in combat, metaphorically ‘licking’ blood in all directions—an image of slaughter and unstoppable force.