Shloka 21
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय 54: फल्गुन-प्रतिरोधः, सौबली-व्यूह-विध्वंसः, दुर्योधन-भीष्म-संवादः
दिव्यान्यस्त्राणि भीष्मस्य द्रोणस्य च महात्मन: । थक्ष्यन्ति क्षत्रियान् सर्वान् प्रयुक्तानि पुनः पुन:,“महामना भीष्म और द्रोणके दिव्यास्त्र बार-बार प्रयुक्त होकर सम्पूर्ण क्षत्रियोंको भस्म कर डालेंगे
divyāny astrāṇi bhīṣmasya droṇasya ca mahātmanaḥ | thakṣyanti kṣatriyān sarvān prayuktāni punaḥ punaḥ |
Sanjaya berkata: “Senjata-senjata surgawi milik Bhishma dan Droṇa yang berhati agung, apabila dilepaskan berulang-ulang, akan menebas dan membinasakan semua kṣatriya.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Extraordinary power—even when held by revered and ‘great-souled’ figures—does not automatically serve dharma; in an unrighteous or catastrophic context it can magnify harm. The verse highlights the moral weight of repeatedly deploying overwhelming force and the tragic self-destruction of the kṣatriya order in civil war.
Sañjaya, narrating the Kurukṣetra war to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, foretells the devastating effect of Bhīṣma’s and Droṇa’s celestial weapons. He emphasizes that these weapons, used repeatedly, will cut down vast numbers of kṣatriya warriors, intensifying the sense of impending slaughter.