Shloka 10
सीमावृक्षे निपतिते कुरूणां समितिंजये । सेनयोरुभयो राजन क्षत्रियानू भयमाविशत्
saṃjaya uvāca | sīmāvṛkṣe nipatite kurūṇāṃ samitiṃjaye | senayor ubhayo rājan kṣatriyānū bhayam āviśat ||
三阇耶说道：大王啊，当毗湿摩——战阵中之胜者，亦如俱卢族的“界树”一般——倒下之时，恐惧便侵入两军刹帝利的心中。他的存在曾如护卫的边疆，为双方各自立起屏障；而今其倾覆，两阵勇士顿觉暴露无依，对战局走向生出深深的不确定。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a single pillar of strength can function like a ‘boundary’ that stabilizes an entire system; when that support falls, even trained warriors are shaken. Ethically, it underscores impermanence in worldly power and the need for steadiness in dharma even when external supports collapse.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that after Bhīṣma’s fall, fear spread among the kṣatriyas on both sides. Bhīṣma had been a decisive, restraining presence in the war; his removal changes the psychological balance of the battlefield.