Shloka 21
भीष्मस्य सेनापत्यप्रतिज्ञा तथा रथसंख्यावर्णनम् | Bhishma Accepts Command and Enumerates Kaurava Strength
शान्ते भीष्मे तथा द्रोणे सूतपुत्रे च पातिते । निराशो जीविते राज्ये पुत्रेषु च भविष्यसि,'भीष्म, द्रोणाचार्य तथा सूतपुत्र कर्णके मारे जानेपर तू अपने जीवन, राज्य तथा पुत्रोंकी रक्षाकी ओरसे निराश हो जायगा
sañjaya uvāca | śānte bhīṣme tathā droṇe sūtaputre ca pātite | nirāśo jīvite rājye putreṣu ca bhaviṣyasi ||
三阇耶说道：“当毗湿摩被迫沉寂，德罗纳亦然；当车夫之子迦尔纳倒下之时，你将绝望无余——对你的性命、你的王国，乃至你诸子的安危。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Reliance on power and great warriors is unstable; when the pillars of an unjust cause fall, the ruler who chose adharma is left with despair—losing confidence in life, sovereignty, and lineage. The verse underscores moral causality: wrongful ambition culminates in inevitable collapse.
Sañjaya warns (to Dhṛtarāṣṭra by implication) that once the Kaurava side loses its foremost protectors—Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and Karṇa—Duryodhana’s cause will be shattered, and the king will become hopeless about survival, the kingdom, and his sons’ safety.