Shloka 27
भागिनेयान् निजांस्त्यक्त्वा शल्यस्तेडतिरथो मतः । एष योत्स्यति संग्रामे पाण्डवांश्व महारथान्,सागरोर्मिंसमैर्बाणै: प्लावयन्निव शात्रवान् | ये अपने सगे भानजों नकुल-सहदेवको छोड़कर अन्य सभी पाण्डव महारथियोंसे समरभूमिमें युद्ध करेंगे। तुम्हारी सेनाके इन वीरशिरोमणि शल्यको मैं अतिरथी ही समझता हूँ। ये समुद्रकी लहरोंके समान अपने बाणोंद्वारा शत्रुपक्षके सैनिकोंको डुबाते हुए-से युद्ध करेंगे
bhāgineyān nijāṁs tyaktvā śalyas te ’tiratho mataḥ | eṣa yotsyati saṅgrāme pāṇḍavāṁś ca mahārathān, sāgarormisamaiḥ bāṇaiḥ plāvayann iva śātravān ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Mesmo deixando de lado os filhos de sua própria irmã, Śalya é, a meu ver, um atiratha para ti. Na batalha que se aproxima, ele lutará contra os Pāṇḍavas—esses grandes guerreiros de carro—e inundará o exército inimigo como ondas do oceano, com chuvas de suas flechas.”
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.