Shloka 11
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
अनर् पुरुषव्याप्रं ढवीमनतमपराजितम् । पातयामास कौन्न्तेय: कथं तमजितं युधि
anardhaṁ puruṣavyāghraṁ dhīmantaṁ aparājitam | pātayāmāsa kaunteyaḥ kathaṁ tam ajitaṁ yudhi ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra berkata: “Bagaimanakah putera Kuntī dapat menjatuhkan di medan perang harimau di kalangan manusia itu—bijaksana dan tidak pernah tewas—yang tampak seolah-olah tidak dapat ditaklukkan?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between reputation and reality in dharmic warfare: even one deemed “unconquerable” can fall due to circumstance, strategy, destiny, or moral causality. It also shows Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s attachment-driven astonishment, a recurring ethical lens in the epic.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sañjaya how Kaunteya (the son of Kuntī) managed to bring down a celebrated, undefeated hero in the battle. The question frames the next explanation of the combat’s details and the factors that led to the warrior’s fall.