विस्मिताश् च प्रहृष्टाश् च क्षत्रधर्मं निशाम्य ते ॥
स्वधर्मं निन्दमानाश् च प्रणिपत्य महात्मने ॥
शयनं कल्पयाम् आसुर् भीष्मायामिततेजसे ॥
सोपधानं नरव्याघ्र शरैः संनतपर्वभिः ॥
विधाय रक्षां भीष्माय समाभाष्य परस्परम् ॥
अनुमान्य च गाङ्गेयं कृत्वा चापि प्रदक्षिणम् ॥
क्रोधसंरक्तनयनाः समवेक्ष्य परस्परम् ॥
पुनर् युद्धाय निर्जग्मुः क्षत्रियाः कालचोदिताः ॥
vismitāś ca prahṛṣṭāś ca kṣatradharmaṃ niśāmya te ||
svadharmaṃ nindamānāś ca praṇipatya mahātmane ||
śayanaṃ kalpayām āsur bhīṣmāyāmitatejase ||
sopadhānaṃ naravyāghra śaraiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ ||
vidhāya rakṣāṃ bhīṣmāya samābhāṣya parasparam ||
anumānya ca gāṅgeyaṃ kṛtvā cāpi pradakṣiṇam ||
krodhasaṃraktanayanāḥ samavekṣya parasparam ||
punar yuddhāya nirjagmuḥ kṣatriyāḥ kālacoditāḥ ||
Astonished and yet gladdened, having beheld the kshatriya-duty and reproaching their own dharma, they prostrated themselves before the great-souled [Bhishma] and prepared for the immeasurably radiant Bhishma a bed with a headrest — of arrows with smooth, even joints, O tiger among men. Having arranged a guard for Bhishma, having conferred with one another, having respectfully taken leave of the son of Ganga and circled him in reverence, the kshatriyas, their eyes reddened with wrath, looked at one another and went forth once more to battle, driven by Time.
2be8fff11ab3 · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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Wondrous is this moment of concord amid the war: enemies of yesterday and tomorrow together lay for the grandsire a bed of arrows and together honor him, circling him in reverence. The kshatriya-duty, shown fully in Bhishma to the very end, wrings from everyone at once astonishment and shame — they "reproach their own dharma," seeing how imperfectly they themselves have fulfilled what he fulfilled perfectly. But this peace is fleeting: "driven by Time," their eyes red with wrath, they at once return to the slaughter. The verse teaches that before true valor enmity falls silent and conscience awakens; but that a man who has not established dharma within himself again surrenders to fate and fury the moment the sacred instant passes.