Shloka 173
भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः
Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas
अपश्याम महाराज द्वियमाणान् रणाजिरे | राजन! भीष्मके धनुषसे छूटे हुए बाण कवचोंमें नहीं अटकते थे (उन्हें छिन्न-भिन्न करके भीतर घुस जाते थे)। महाराज! हमने समरांगणमें ऐसे बहुत-से रथ देखे
sañjaya uvāca | apaśyāma mahārāja dvyamāṇān raṇājire | rājan! bhīṣmake dhanuṣaś ca chūṭe huye bāṇa kavacomeṃ nahīṃ aṭakate the (unheṃ chinna-bhinna karke bhītar ghusa jāte the) | mahārāja! hamne samarāṅgaṇmeṃ aise bahut-se ratha dekhe, jinake rathī aur sārathi to mār diye gaye the; parantu vegśālī ghoṛoṃ se jute hue hone ke kāraṇ ve idhar-udhar khīṃcakar le jāye jā rahe the |
三阇耶说道：大王啊，我在战场上见众人被斩落倒下。王啊，毗湿摩弓上放出的箭并不滞留于甲胄之上；它们撕裂铠甲，直贯其内。大王啊，我们又见许多战车，其战士与御者皆已被杀，然而因仍系于迅疾之马，便被拖拽着在地上东奔西扯——这是人在亡而战势犹驰的盲目惯性。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the brutal reality and moral cost of war: once human agency (the warrior and charioteer) is destroyed, the instruments of violence can continue moving blindly. It implicitly warns that power and martial excellence—here symbolized by Bhishma’s irresistible arrows—do not cancel the suffering and chaos that follow from battle.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhritarashtra what he witnesses at Kurukshetra: Bhishma’s arrows rip through armor rather than sticking, and many chariots, their fighters and drivers slain, are still dragged around the battlefield by swift horses, creating disorder and a grim spectacle.