Shloka 22
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
स च्छाद्यमानो बहुधा पुत्रैस्तव विशाम्पते । सृक्किणी संलिहन् वीर: शार्दूल इव दर्पित:
sa cchādyamāno bahudhā putrais tava viśāmpate | sṛkkīṇī saṁlihan vīraḥ śārdūla iva darpitaḥ ||
三阇耶说道：民众之主啊，纵使你的诸子从四面八方反复以箭雨遮覆那位英雄，他仍怒舔唇角，如骄猛之虎，屹立不退，勇威不减。（在此段周围的叙事中，毗摩塞那怒火炽盛，于乱军之中以剃刃般锋利的箭矢射倒你的儿子毗优陀罗迦，断其性命。）
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethos under kṣatriya-dharma: even when overwhelmed by enemy missiles, a fighter is expected to maintain resolve and courage. Ethically, it also underscores how anger and pride intensify violence in war, leading swiftly to irreversible outcomes—death and grief—especially for those bound by loyalty to a doomed cause.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a battlefield moment where a hero, though showered with arrows by Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons, remains fierce like a proud tiger. In the immediate context of this passage, Bhīmasena, enraged, uses a sharp kṣurapra arrow to strike down Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son Vyūḍhoraska, ending his life.