Shloka 89
संकम्पयन् गां चरणैर्महात्मा वेगेन कृष्ण: प्रससार भीष्मम् । मदान्धमाजौ समुदीर्णदर्प सिंहो जिघांसन्निव वारणेन्द्रम्ू,उस चक्रकी नाभि बड़ी सुन्दर थी। उसका प्रकाश सूर्यके समान और प्रभाव वज्रके तुल्य था। उसके किनारे छूरेके समान तीक्ष्ण थे। वसुदेवनन्दन महात्मा भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण घोड़ोंकी लगाम छोड़कर हाथमें उस चक्रको घुमाते हुए रथसे कूद पड़े और जिस प्रकार सिंह बढ़े हुए घमंडवाले मदान्ध एवं उन्मत्त गजराजको मार डालनेकी इच्छासे उसकी ओर झपटे, उसी प्रकार वे भी अपने पैरोंकी धमकसे पृथ्वीको कँपाते हुए युद्धस्थलमें भीष्मकी ओर बड़े वेगसे दौड़े
saṅkampayan gāṁ caraṇair mahātmā vegeṇa kṛṣṇaḥ prasasāra bhīṣmam | madāndham ājau samudīrṇadarpaḥ siṁho jighāṁsann iva vāraṇendram ||
Sañjaya said: The great-souled Kṛṣṇa, making the earth tremble beneath his feet, rushed at Bhīṣma with tremendous speed. Like a lion intent on killing a rut-maddened lordly elephant, swollen with pride in the thick of battle, he surged forward—an image that frames Kṛṣṇa’s fierce intervention as a moral crisis in war: when vows and restraint collapse before unchecked slaughter, even the upholder of dharma may assume terrifying force to protect the righteous and halt adharma.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic tension: when violence becomes excessive and pride-driven, moral restraint may give way to forceful intervention to prevent greater adharma. Kṛṣṇa’s terrifying momentum symbolizes protective righteousness that can appear wrathful when safeguarding justice and the vulnerable.
Sañjaya describes Kṛṣṇa charging at Bhīṣma with earth-shaking speed, likening him to a lion leaping to kill a frenzied elephant-king. The scene underscores the intensity of the battle and Kṛṣṇa’s decisive move toward Bhīṣma.