Shloka 16

Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)

Devanagari script

स शेते निहतो भूमौ वातभग्न इव द्रुम: । मम दुर्मन्त्रितेनाजी यथा नाहति भारत,जिन्होंने इन्द्रके समान युद्धमें दस दिनोंतक अक्षय बाणोंकी वर्षा करके दस करोड़ विपक्षी सेनाओंका संहार कर डाला, वे ही भरतवंशी वीर भीष्म मेरी कुमन्त्रणाके कारण आँधीसे उखाड़े गये वृक्षकी भाँति युद्धमें मारे जाकर पृथ्वीपर शयन कर रहे हैं, वे कदापि इसके योग्य नहीं थे

Transliteration

sa śete nihato bhūmau vātabhagna iva drumaḥ | mama durmantritena ājau yathā nāhati bhārata ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra nói: “Ngài nằm gục trên mặt đất, như cây bị gió bẻ gãy. Ôi Bhārata, dường như ngài bị quật ngã giữa chiến trận chỉ vì lời mưu tính sai lầm của ta.”

Word by Word

सःhe

शेतेlies, rests

निहतःslain, struck down

भूमौon the ground

वात-भग्नःbroken by the wind

इवlike, as if

द्रुमःa tree

ममmy

दुर्मन्त्रितेनby (my) evil counsel / bad advice

अजिin battle

यथाas, in such a way that

नnot

अहतिstrikes, kills, harms

भारतO Bharata

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Bhīṣma

Sañjaya (addressed as Bhārata)

Bhārata lineage (Bharata)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights moral accountability: a ruler’s misguided counsel and choices can bring ruin even upon the greatest protectors, and grief is sharpened by the awareness of one’s own culpability.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of Bhīṣma’s fall on the battlefield, describes him lying on the ground like a wind-broken tree and attributes this catastrophe to his own ill advice and decisions that led to the war.