Shloka 15

Devanagari script

पश्य शान्तनवं कृष्ण शयान सूर्यवर्चसम्‌ । युगान्त इव कालेन पतितं सूर्यमम्बरात्‌,श्रीकृष्ण! देखो, ये सूर्यके समान तेजस्वी शान्तनुनन्दन भीष्म कैसे सो रहे हैं, ऐसा जान पड़ता है, मानो प्रलयकालमें कालसे प्रेरित हो सूर्यदेव आकाशसे भूमिपर गिर पड़े हैं

Transliteration

paśya śāntanavaṁ kṛṣṇa śayānaṁ sūryavarcasaṁ | yugānta iva kālena patitaṁ sūryam ambarāt ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Hãy nhìn, hỡi Kṛṣṇa, con trai của Śāntanu đang nằm kia, rực rỡ như mặt trời. Ông tựa như chính mặt trời rơi khỏi trời cao, như vào lúc tận cùng một thời đại, bị Thời Gian (kāla) quăng xuống.”

Word by Word

पश्यsee, behold

शान्तनवम्the son/descendant of Śāntanu (Bhīṣma)

कृष्णO Kṛṣṇa

शयानम्lying down, reclining

सूर्यवर्चसम्having the radiance of the sun

युगान्तेat the end of an age (world-cycle)

इवas if, like

कालेनby Time (Death)

पतितम्fallen

सूर्यम्the sun

अम्बरात्from the sky

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kṛṣṇa

Bhīṣma (Śāntanu’s son)

Śāntanu

Sūrya (the Sun)

Kāla (Time)

Ambarā (sky/firmament)

Yugānta (end of the age)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the overwhelming power of kāla (Time) and the impermanence of worldly greatness: even Bhīṣma, radiant and revered, lies brought low. Ethically, it intensifies the Mahābhārata’s warning about the catastrophic cost of war and the fragility of human glory.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana directs attention to Bhīṣma—identified as Śāntanu’s son—lying on the battlefield. His fallen state is compared to the sun dropping from the sky at yugānta, emphasizing the scene’s gravity and the sense that a world-order has been shaken.