Shloka 44
भीष्मस्य सेनापत्यप्रतिज्ञा तथा रथसंख्यावर्णनम् | Bhishma Accepts Command and Enumerates Kaurava Strength
अहं भीष्मवधात् सृष्टो नूनं धात्रा महात्मना,सो5हं भीष्म हनिष्यामि मिषतां सर्वधन्विनाम् । “निश्चय ही महामना विधाताने भीष्मके वधके लिये ही मेरी सृष्टि की है। अतः मैं समस्त धनुर्धरोंके देखते-देखते भीष्मको मार डालूँगा”
ahaṃ bhīṣmavadhāt sṛṣṭo nūnaṃ dhātrā mahātmanā, so ’haṃ bhīṣma haniṣyāmi miṣatāṃ sarvadhanvinām.
Sañjaya berkata: “Sesungguhnya Sang Penentu Agung telah menjadikan aku semata-mata untuk kematian Bhīṣma. Maka, walaupun semua pemanah memandang, aku akan menumbangkan Bhīṣma.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the tension between personal agency and divine ordination: the speaker frames a decisive, violent act as something willed by the cosmic Ordainer (Dhātṛ). Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring theme that in war, individuals often justify extreme actions as necessary within a larger, fated order—raising questions about responsibility, dharma, and the moral weight of destiny.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s vow-like declaration: he believes he has been created specifically to bring about Bhīṣma’s death, and he asserts that he will kill Bhīṣma even in full view of all the archers on the battlefield. The statement heightens the sense of impending catastrophe and the inevitability surrounding Bhīṣma’s fall.