Shloka 14
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
यस्य नास्ति समो लोके शौर्ये वीर्ये च कश्नन । स एष निहत:ः शेते भीष्मो भीष्मकृताहवे,संसारमें शौर्य और बलमें जिनकी समानता करनेवाला दूसरा कोई नहीं है, वे ही ये युद्धमें भयंकर कर्म करनेवाले भीष्मजी घायल हो बाणशय्यापर सो रहे हैं
yasya nāsti samo loke śaurye vīrye ca kaścana | sa eṣa nihataḥ śete bhīṣmo bhīṣmakṛtāhave ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Di dunia ini tiada seorang pun setara dengannya dalam keberanian dan kekuatan. Namun Bhīṣma itu juga—yang perbuatannya di medan perang begitu menggerunkan—kini tertewas, berbaring di atas hamparan anak panah.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the transience of worldly power: unmatched valor and strength cannot ultimately prevent downfall in war. It invites ethical reflection on the cost of violence and the humbling force of fate/time even upon the noblest and mightiest.
The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana points out that Bhīṣma—peerless in heroism and martial strength—has been struck down in the great war and now lies incapacitated, resting on the famed bed of arrows.