Shloka 16
Bhīṣma’s Recollection of the Duel: Charioteer’s Fall, Brahmin Protection, and Portents after Rāma’s Collapse
ततस्तत्प्रतिघातार्थ ब्राह्ममेवास्त्रमुत्तमम् । मया प्रयुक्त जज्वाल युगान्तमिव दर्शयत्
tatastatpratighātārthaṁ brāhmam evāstram uttamam | mayā prayuktaṁ jajvāla yugāntam iva darśayat ||
ಆಮೇಲೆ ಆ ಪ್ರಹಾರವನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲು ನಾನು ಕೂಡ ಉತ್ತಮ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಸ್ತ್ರವನ್ನೇ ಪ್ರಯೋಗಿಸಿದೆನು. ನನ್ನಿಂದ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆಗೊಂಡ ಆ ಅಸ್ತ್ರವು ಯುಗಾಂತದಂತೆ ಭೀಕರ ದೃಶ್ಯವನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತ ಜ್ವಲಿಸಿತು.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral danger of escalation: when one answers a powerful attack with an even greater divine weapon, the conflict can assume world-ending proportions. It implicitly warns that extraordinary force, even when used as a countermeasure, carries catastrophic risk and demands restraint and discernment.
Bhīṣma says that to neutralize the opponent’s strike, he released the supreme Brahma-weapon. Once deployed, it flared up with an apocalyptic brilliance, resembling the end-of-age destruction (yugānta).