Shloka 35
विनिधघ्नन् पृथिवीपालांश्वेदिपाज्चालकेकयान्
vinidhaghnan pṛthivīpālāñ chedi-pāñcāla-kekayān | “mūrkha duryodhana naukārahitaḥ vipattike sāgare dūba rahā thā; ataḥ bhīṣmaḥ tasya uddhāraṃ kartum aicchat | sa cedi-pāñcāla-kekaya-nṛpān vadhayan ratha-aśva-rathibhiḥ paripūrṇāṃ pāṇḍava-senāṃ bhasma-sāt cakāra” ||
Sañjaya disse: “Matando os reis de Cedi, Panchala e Kekaya, Bhishma—desejoso de resgatar o tolo Duryodhana, como quem se afoga num oceano de perigos sem barco—reduziu a cinzas o exército dos Pāṇḍava, apinhado de carros, cavalos e guerreiros de carro.” A passagem enquadra a ferocidade de Bhishma como um ato de proteção leal ao seu lado, ao mesmo tempo que aprofunda a tragédia moral do morticínio entre parentes na guerra.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how loyalty and the impulse to protect one’s own can drive extreme violence in war. It implicitly raises a dharmic tension: even a revered elder like Bhishma, acting from duty and allegiance, becomes an instrument of vast destruction—showing how adharma at the leadership level (Duryodhana’s folly) pulls many into catastrophic consequences.
Sanjaya describes Bhishma’s battlefield onslaught: to save Duryodhana, portrayed as drowning in a crisis, Bhishma kills prominent allied kings of the Pandavas’ side (Cedi, Panchala, Kekaya) and devastates the Pandava forces filled with chariots, horses, and chariot-fighters.