तत्र भीष्मः शांतनवो नित्यं मण्डलकार्मुकः ॥
मुमोच बाणान् दीप्ताग्रान् अहीन् आशीविषान् इव ॥
शरैर् एकायनीकुर्वन् दिशः सर्वा यतव्रतः ॥
जघान पाण्डवरथान् आदिश्यादिश्य भारत ॥
स नृत्यन् वै रथोपस्थे दर्शयन् पाणिलाघवम् ॥
अलातचक्रवद् राजंस् तत्र तत्र स्म दृश्यते ॥
तम् एकं समरे शूरं पाण्डवाः सृञ्जयास् तथा ॥
अनेकशतसाहस्रं समपश्यन्त लाघवात् ॥
मायाकृतात्मानम् इव भीष्मं तत्र स्म मेनिरे ॥
पूर्वस्यां दिशि तं दृष्ट्वा प्रतीच्यां ददृशुर् जनाः ॥
उदीच्यां चैनम् आलोक्य दक्षिणस्यां पुनः प्रभो ॥
एवं स समरे वीरो गाङ्गेयः प्रत्यदृश्यत ॥
न चैनं पाण्डवेयानां कश् चिच् छक्नोति वीक्षितुम् ॥
विशिखान् एव पश्यन्ति भीष्मचापच्युतान् बहून् ॥
कुर्वाणं समरे कर्म सूदयानं च वाहिनीम् ॥
व्याक्रोशन्त रणे तत्र वीरा बहुविधं बहु ॥
अमानुषेण रूपेण चरन्तं पितरं तव ॥
शलभा इव राजानः पतन्ति विधिचोदिताः ॥
भीष्माग्निम् अभि संक्रुद्धं विनाशाय सहस्रशः ॥
न हि मोघः शरः कश् चिद् आसीद् भीष्मस्य संयुगे ॥
नरनागाश्वकायेषु बहुत्वाल् लघुवेधिनः ॥
भिनत्त्य् एकेन बाणेन सुमुक्तेन पतत्रिणा ॥
गजकङ्कटसंनाहं वज्रेणेवाचलोत्तमम् ॥
द्वौ त्रीन् अपि गजारोहान् पिण्डितान् वर्मितान् अपि ॥
नाराचेन सुतीक्ष्णेन निजघान पिता तव ॥
यो यो भीष्मं नरव्याघ्रम् अभ्येति युधि कश् चन ॥
मुहूर्तदृष्टः स मया पातितो भुवि दृश्यते ॥
एवं सा धर्मराजस्य वध्यमाना महाचमूः ॥
भीष्मेणातुलवीर्येण व्यशीर्यत सहस्रधा ॥
प्रकीर्यत महासेना शरवर्षाभितापिता ॥
पश्यतो वासुदेवस्य पार्थस्य च महात्मनः ॥
यतमानापि ते वीरा द्रवमाणान् महारथान् ॥
नाशक्नुवन् वारयितुं भीष्मबाणप्रपीडिताः ॥
महेन्द्रसमवीर्येण वध्यमाना महाचमूः ॥
अभज्यत महाराज न च द्वौ सह धावतः ॥
आविद्धनरनागाश्वं पतितध्वजकूबरम् ॥
अनीकं पाण्डुपुत्राणां हाहाभूतम् अचेतनम् ॥
जघानात्र पिता पुत्रं पुत्रश् च पितरं तथा ॥
प्रियं सखायं चाक्रन्दे सखा दैवबलात्कृतः ॥
विमुच्य कवचान् अन्ये पाण्डुपुत्रस्य सैनिकाः ॥
प्रकीर्य केशान् धावन्तः प्रत्यदृश्यन्त भारत ॥
तद् गोकुलम् इवोद्भ्रान्तम् उद्भ्रान्तरथयूथपम् ॥
ददृशे पाण्डुपुत्रस्य सैन्यम् आर्तस्वरं तदा ॥
tatra bhīṣmaḥ śāṃtanavo nityaṃ maṇḍalakārmukaḥ ||
mumoca bāṇān dīptāgrān ahīn āśīviṣān iva ||
śarair ekāyanīkurvan diśaḥ sarvā yatavrataḥ ||
jaghāna pāṇḍavarathān ādiśyādiśya bhārata ||
sa nṛtyan vai rathopasthe darśayan pāṇilāghavam ||
alātacakravad rājaṃs tatra tatra sma dṛśyate ||
tam ekaṃ samare śūraṃ pāṇḍavāḥ sṛñjayās tathā ||
anekaśatasāhasraṃ samapaśyanta lāghavāt ||
māyākṛtātmānam iva bhīṣmaṃ tatra sma menire ||
pūrvasyāṃ diśi taṃ dṛṣṭvā pratīcyāṃ dadṛśur janāḥ ||
udīcyāṃ cainam ālokya dakṣiṇasyāṃ punaḥ prabho ||
evaṃ sa samare vīro gāṅgeyaḥ pratyadṛśyata ||
na cainaṃ pāṇḍaveyānāṃ kaś cic chaknoti vīkṣitum ||
viśikhān eva paśyanti bhīṣmacāpacyutān bahūn ||
kurvāṇaṃ samare karma sūdayānaṃ ca vāhinīm ||
vyākrośanta raṇe tatra vīrā bahuvidhaṃ bahu ||
amānuṣeṇa rūpeṇa carantaṃ pitaraṃ tava ||
śalabhā iva rājānaḥ patanti vidhicoditāḥ ||
bhīṣmāgnim abhi saṃkruddhaṃ vināśāya sahasraśaḥ ||
na hi moghaḥ śaraḥ kaś cid āsīd bhīṣmasya saṃyuge ||
naranāgāśvakāyeṣu bahutvāl laghuvedhinaḥ ||
bhinatty ekena bāṇena sumuktena patatriṇā ||
gajakaṅkaṭasaṃnāhaṃ vajreṇevācalottamam ||
dvau trīn api gajārohān piṇḍitān varmitān api ||
nārācena sutīkṣṇena nijaghāna pitā tava ||
yo yo bhīṣmaṃ naravyāghram abhyeti yudhi kaś cana ||
muhūrtadṛṣṭaḥ sa mayā pātito bhuvi dṛśyate ||
evaṃ sā dharmarājasya vadhyamānā mahācamūḥ ||
bhīṣmeṇātulavīryeṇa vyaśīryata sahasradhā ||
prakīryata mahāsenā śaravarṣābhitāpitā ||
paśyato vāsudevasya pārthasya ca mahātmanaḥ ||
yatamānāpi te vīrā dravamāṇān mahārathān ||
nāśaknuvan vārayituṃ bhīṣmabāṇaprapīḍitāḥ ||
mahendrasamavīryeṇa vadhyamānā mahācamūḥ ||
abhajyata mahārāja na ca dvau saha dhāvataḥ ||
āviddhanaranāgāśvaṃ patitadhvajakūbaram ||
anīkaṃ pāṇḍuputrāṇāṃ hāhābhūtam acetanam ||
jaghānātra pitā putraṃ putraś ca pitaraṃ tathā ||
priyaṃ sakhāyaṃ cākrande sakhā daivabalātkṛtaḥ ||
vimucya kavacān anye pāṇḍuputrasya sainikāḥ ||
prakīrya keśān dhāvantaḥ pratyadṛśyanta bhārata ||
tad gokulam ivodbhrāntam udbhrāntarathayūthapam ||
dadṛśe pāṇḍuputrasya sainyam ārtasvaraṃ tadā ||
There Bhishma, son of Shantanu, ceaselessly wheeling his bow, loosed arrows with blazing tips like venomous serpents. With his shafts he narrowed every quarter into a single path and, marking target after target, struck down the chariots of the Pandavas, O Bharata. Dancing, as it were, on the platform of his chariot and displaying the swiftness of his hands, he appeared now here, now there, like a whirling firebrand, O king. Because of his swiftness, the Pandavas and the Srinjayas saw that single hero in battle as though he were hundreds of thousands; they thought Bhishma had multiplied himself by illusion. Seeing him in the east, people at once beheld him in the west; noticing him in the north, they found him again in the south. Thus did the hero, the son of Ganga, appear in battle. None among the Pandavas could clearly make him out; they saw only the many arrows flying from Bhishma's bow. The warriors cried out loudly, watching your father, in superhuman form, perform his work in battle and slaughter the army. Kings, driven by fate, fell like locusts by the thousands into the raging fire of Bhishma, to their own destruction. Not a single one of Bhishma's arrows in that battle went in vain: so many were the bodies of men, elephants, and horses that each shaft found its mark. With one well-loosed, feathered arrow he pierced through the armored hide of a war-elephant, as the thunderbolt splits a great mountain. With a single, extremely sharp iron arrow your father slew even two or three riders together on an elephant, clustered and clad in armor. Whoever in that battle approached Bhishma, tiger among men, I saw for but a moment before he lay felled upon the ground. Thus the great army of the King of Dharma, slaughtered by Bhishma of matchless valor, was shattered into a thousand pieces. Scorched by the rain of arrows, the great host was scattered before the eyes of Vasudeva and the great-souled Partha. Though those heroes strove hard to hold back the fleeing maharathas, worn down by Bhishma's arrows, they could not restrain them. Slaughtered by one whose valor equaled great Indra's, the great army broke apart, O great king; not even two men fled together. The army of the sons of Pandu, its men, elephants, and horses struck down, its banners and chariot-poles fallen, became a mass of despairing, senseless cries. There a father slew his son, and a son likewise his father; a friend, overcome by fate, wept for his beloved companion. Other soldiers of the son of Pandu, casting off their armor and with their hair let loose, ran and were seen fleeing, O Bharata. Then the army of the son of Pandu, filled with cries of anguish, looked like a panicked herd of cattle whose drover-chiefs had lost their senses.
f7a5206e74de · published Jul 17, 2026, 9:22:45 PM UTC
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Bhishma here appears as an almost cosmic force of destruction, yet the narrative does not turn him into an independent master of fate. His might works within a web of earlier choices: once dharma was rejected in the council hall, the battlefield became a place where even kinsmen cease to recognize one another.