Shloka 13
भीष्मस्य सेनापत्यप्रतिज्ञा तथा रथसंख्यावर्णनम् | Bhishma Accepts Command and Enumerates Kaurava Strength
सूर्योदये युक्तसेन: प्रतीक्ष्य ध्वजी रथी रक्ष तं सत्यसंधम् । अहं हि व: पश्यतां द्वीपमेनं भीष्म रथात् पातयिष्यामि बाणै:,'तू सूर्योदयके समय सेनाको सुसज्जित करके ध्वज और रथसे सम्पन्न हो सब ओर दृष्टि रखते हुए सत्यप्रतिज्ञ भीष्मकी रक्षा कर। मैं तेरे सैनिकोंके देखते-देखते तेरे लिये आश्रय बने हुए इन भीष्मजीको बाणोंद्वारा मारकर रथसे नीचे गिरा दूँगा
sūryodaye yuktasenaḥ pratīkṣya dhvajī rathī rakṣa taṃ satyasaṃdham | ahaṃ hi vaḥ paśyatāṃ dvīpam enaṃ bhīṣma rathāt pātayiṣyāmi bāṇaiḥ ||
Санджая сказал: «На рассвете, выстроив войско и стоя наготове — под знаменем, на колеснице, — стереги со всех сторон и защищай Бхишму, мужа с нерушимым обетом. Ибо я, на глазах у твоих воинов, поражу этого Бхишму — твою “островную” опору и прибежище — и стрелами низвергну его с колесницы».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of vows (satyasaṃdha) and the battlefield duty to protect a principal warrior. It also uses the metaphor of a ‘dvīpa’ (island) to show how a single steadfast figure can become the army’s moral and strategic refuge—making his protection a matter of collective responsibility.
Sañjaya reports a martial exhortation: at daybreak the forces should be fully arrayed, vigilant, and focused on guarding Bhīṣma. Simultaneously, the speaker issues a bold threat/boast that, even in full view of the opposing troops, he will strike Bhīṣma with arrows and topple him from his chariot.