Shloka 27
Bhīṣma’s Appraisal of Kaurava Champions (भीष्मकृतः रथिनां गुणनिरूपणम्)
भागिनेयान् निजांस्त्यक्त्वा शल्यस्तेडतिरथो मतः । एष योत्स्यति संग्रामे पाण्डवांश्व महारथान्
bhāgineyān nijāṁs tyaktvā śalyas te ’tiratho mataḥ | eṣa yotsyati saṅgrāme pāṇḍavāṁś ca mahārathān, sāgarormisamaiḥ bāṇaiḥ plāvayann iva śātravān ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Walaupun mengenepikan anak-anak saudara kandungnya sendiri, Śalya—pada pertimbanganku—ialah seorang atiratha bagi tuanku. Dalam peperangan yang bakal tiba, dia akan bertempur menentang para Pāṇḍava, para maharatha itu, membanjiri bala musuh seolah-olah gelombang lautan, dengan hujan anak panahnya.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between kinship and martial obligation: a warrior may be compelled—by alliance, circumstance, or duty—to fight even against close relatives. Bhīṣma frames Śalya’s choice as a deliberate setting-aside of family ties in favor of the role he has taken up in the war, while also emphasizing the ethical gravity of such a decision.
Bhīṣma is assessing and praising Śalya’s battlefield capacity for the Kaurava side. He notes that although Śalya is related to Nakula and Sahadeva (as their maternal uncle), he will nonetheless fight the Pāṇḍavas, overwhelming opponents with arrow-showers likened to ocean waves.