हन्याम् अहं महाबाहो पाण्डवानाम् अनीकिनीम् ॥
दिवसे दिवसे कृत्वा भागं प्रागाह्निकं मम ॥
योधानां दशसाहस्रं कृत्वा भागं महाद्युते ॥
सहस्रं रथिनाम् एकम् एष भागो मतो मम ॥
अनेनाहं विधानेन संनद्धः सततोत्थितः ॥
क्षपयेयं महत् सैन्यं कालेनानेन भारत ॥
यदि त्व् अस्त्राणि मुञ्चेयं महान्ति समरे स्थितः ॥
शतसाहस्रघातीनि हन्यां मासेन भारत ॥
संजय उवाच
श्रुत्वा भीष्मस्य तद् वाक्यं राजा दुर्योधनस् तदा ॥
पर्यपृच्छत राजेन्द्र द्रोणम् अङ्गिरसां वरम् ॥
hanyām ahaṃ mahābāho pāṇḍavānām anīkinīm ||
divase divase kṛtvā bhāgaṃ prāgāhnikaṃ mama ||
yodhānāṃ daśasāhasraṃ kṛtvā bhāgaṃ mahādyute ||
sahasraṃ rathinām ekam eṣa bhāgo mato mama ||
anenāhaṃ vidhānena saṃnaddhaḥ satatotthitaḥ ||
kṣapayeyaṃ mahat sainyaṃ kālenānena bhārata ||
yadi tv astrāṇi muñceyaṃ mahānti samare sthitaḥ ||
śatasāhasraghātīni hanyāṃ māsena bhārata ||
saṃjaya uvāca
śrutvā bhīṣmasya tad vākyaṃ rājā duryodhanas tadā ||
paryapṛcchata rājendra droṇam aṅgirasāṃ varam ||
"O mighty-armed one, each day I could destroy a portion of the Pandava army: ten thousand warriors and a thousand chariot-warriors by morning, O radiant one. Such is my share, as I reckon it. Armed and ever ready, in this manner I would destroy this great army within such a span of time, O Bharata. But if, standing in battle, I were to release the great astras that slay hundreds of thousands, I would destroy it within a month, O Bharata." Sanjaya said: "Having heard these words of Bhishma, King Duryodhana then asked Drona, the foremost of the line of Angiras."
c1871fc4f87d · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:41:26 AM UTC
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This chapter returns the conversation to a military assessment of strength before the battle. Duryodhana wants to measure the Pandava army in number of days, but the answers of the senior warriors reveal differing measures of realism and self-confidence. Bhishma speaks as a commander bound by the dharma of battle: an honest fight against an honest foe, a deceitful one against a deceiver. Drona admits his age but not any loss of strength. Karna, meanwhile, promises the impossible -- before he has met Arjuna and Krishna -- and Bhishma's laughter exposes the gap between boasting and true battle knowledge.