Shloka 41
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
यस्य वीर्य समाश्रित्य मम पुत्रो बृहद्धल: । न पाण्डवानगणयत् कथं स निहतः परै:
yasya vīryaṃ samāśritya mama putro bṛhaddhalaḥ | na pāṇḍavān agaṇayat kathaṃ sa nihataḥ paraiḥ ||
ആരുടെ പരാക്രമത്തെ ആശ്രയിച്ച് എന്റെ പുത്രൻ—മഹാബലവാനും വിപുലസൈന്യബലത്തിൽ സമർത്ഥനുമായ—പാണ്ഡവരെ തുച്ഛമായി കരുതിയിരുന്നുവോ, അവൻ ശത്രുക്കളുടെ കൈയിൽ എങ്ങനെ ഹതനായി?
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how reliance on perceived power and contempt for others breeds delusion; in war, arrogance and misjudgment can lead to ruin, and grief then questions the very assumptions that fueled the conflict.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of battlefield deaths, expresses astonishment and sorrow: his son, confident due to the support of a powerful champion and large forces, had dismissed the Pāṇḍavas—so Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks how such a son could nevertheless be killed by the opposing side.