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 ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Kahit isantabi pa niya ang sariling mga pamangkin—mga anak ng kanyang kapatid na babae—si Śalya, sa aking paghatol, ay isang atiratha para sa iyo. Sa darating na labanan, makikipagdigma siya laban sa mga Pāṇḍava—yaong mga dakilang mandirigmang karwahe—at lulunurin niya ang hukbo ng kaaway na wari’y mga alon ng dagat, sa ulang ng kanyang mga palaso.”
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.