Shloka 15
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
यः स शक्र इवाक्षय्यं वर्ष शरमयं क्षिपन् जघान युधि योधानामर्बुदं दशभिर्दिनै:
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | yaḥ sa śakra ivākṣayyaṁ varṣaśaramayaṁ kṣipan jaghāna yudhi yodhānām arbudaṁ daśabhir dinaiḥ | sa eva bharatavaṁśī vīro bhīṣmo mama kumantreṇa āndhyā (vāyunā) ukhāḍhita-vṛkṣa iva yuddhe hataḥ pṛthivyāṁ śete | sa kadācid api etad-yogyo na āsīt |
Wika ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra: “Siya na tulad ni Indra ay nagpaulan ng di nauubos na mga palaso, at sa loob ng sampung araw ay lumipol ng napakalawak na hukbo ng mga mandirigma—yaong si Bhīṣma, ang bayaning supling ng angkan ng Bharata—ngayon, dahil sa masamang payo ko, ay nakahandusay na patay sa lupa, gaya ng punong hinugot ng bagyo. Hindi kailanman siya nararapat sa gayong wakas.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral accountability in leadership: Dhṛtarāṣṭra recognizes that destructive outcomes in war are not merely ‘fate’ but are tied to one’s own unethical counsel and choices, and that even the greatest warrior can be brought low when adharma governs decision-making.
After Bhīṣma has fallen in the Kurukṣetra war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra laments that the same Bhīṣma who once annihilated immense forces with an Indra-like rain of arrows for ten days now lies slain on the battlefield; he attributes this tragic end to his own misguided counsel.