कृष्ण पश्य महेष्वासं भीष्मं भीमपराक्रमम् ॥
शरैर् दहन्तं सैन्यं मे ग्रीष्मे कक्षम् इवानलम् ॥
कथम् एनं महात्मानं शक्ष्यामः प्रतिवीक्षितुम् ॥
लेलिह्यमानं सैन्यं मे हविष्मन्तम् इवानलम् ॥
एतं हि पुरुषव्याघ्रं धनुष्मन्तं महाबलम् ॥
दृष्ट्वा विप्रद्रुतं सैन्यं मदीयं मार्गणाहतम् ॥
शक्यो जेतुं यमः क्रुद्धो वज्रपाणिश् च संयुगे ॥
वरुणः पाशभृच् चापि कुबेरो वा गदाधरः ॥
न तु भीष्मो महातेजाः शक्यो जेतुं महाबलः ॥
सो ऽहम् एवं गते मग्नो भीष्मागाधजले ऽप्लवः ॥
आत्मनो बुद्धिदौर्बल्याद् भीष्मम् आसाद्य केशव ॥
वनं यास्यामि गोविन्द श्रेयो मे तत्र जीवितुम् ॥
न त्व् इमान् पृथिवीपालान् दातुं भीष्माय मृत्यवे ॥
क्षपयिष्यति सेनां मे कृष्ण भीष्मो महास्त्रवित् ॥
kṛṣṇa paśya maheṣvāsaṃ bhīṣmaṃ bhīmaparākramam ||
śarair dahantaṃ sainyaṃ me grīṣme kakṣam ivānalam ||
katham enaṃ mahātmānaṃ śakṣyāmaḥ prativīkṣitum ||
lelihyamānaṃ sainyaṃ me haviṣmantam ivānalam ||
etaṃ hi puruṣavyāghraṃ dhanuṣmantaṃ mahābalam ||
dṛṣṭvā vipradrutaṃ sainyaṃ madīyaṃ mārgaṇāhatam ||
śakyo jetuṃ yamaḥ kruddho vajrapāṇiś ca saṃyuge ||
varuṇaḥ pāśabhṛc cāpi kubero vā gadādharaḥ ||
na tu bhīṣmo mahātejāḥ śakyo jetuṃ mahābalaḥ ||
so 'ham evaṃ gate magno bhīṣmāgādhajale 'plavaḥ ||
ātmano buddhidaurbalyād bhīṣmam āsādya keśava ||
vanaṃ yāsyāmi govinda śreyo me tatra jīvitum ||
na tv imān pṛthivīpālān dātuṃ bhīṣmāya mṛtyave ||
kṣapayiṣyati senāṃ me kṛṣṇa bhīṣmo mahāstravit ||
'Krishna, look at the great archer Bhishma, terrible in valor: with his arrows he burns my army as summer fire burns dry grass. How shall we even bear to look upon this great-souled one as he devours my army like a flame fed with sacrificial butter? Having seen this mighty tiger among men, bow in hand, my army, struck by his arrows, has scattered. In battle one might conquer furious Yama, Indra with his thunderbolt, Varuna with his noose, or Kubera with his mace, but mighty, radiant Bhishma cannot be conquered. So I have become like one without a raft, sunk in the bottomless waters of Bhishma. Through the weakness of my own mind, having encountered Bhishma, O Keshava, I shall go to the forest, Govinda: it is better for me to live there than to hand these lords of the earth over to death-dealing Bhishma. Krishna, Bhishma, knower of great weapons, will annihilate my army.'
f26bda64bfb2 · published Jul 17, 2026, 9:12:34 PM UTC
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Yudhishthira speaks as a king for whom the lives of his allies are not expendable. His wish to go to the forest is not cowardice but the anguish of conscience, pressed to its limit by the sight of destruction.