दुर्योधन उवाच
भीष्मः सेनाप्रणेतासीद् वयसा विक्रमेण च ॥
श्रुतेन च सुसंपन्नः सर्वैर् योधगुणैस् तथा ॥
तेनातियशसा कर्ण घ्नता शत्रुगणान् मम ॥
सुयुद्धेन दशाहानि पालिताः स्मो महात्मना ॥
तस्मिन्न् असुकरं कर्म कृतवत्य् आस्थिते दिवम् ॥
कं नु सेनाप्रणेतारं मन्यसे तदनन्तरम् ॥
duryodhana uvāca
bhīṣmaḥ senāpraṇetāsīd vayasā vikrameṇa ca ||
śrutena ca susaṃpannaḥ sarvair yodhaguṇais tathā ||
tenātiyaśasā karṇa ghnatā śatrugaṇān mama ||
suyuddhena daśāhāni pālitāḥ smo mahātmanā ||
tasminn asukaraṃ karma kṛtavaty āsthite divam ||
kaṃ nu senāpraṇetāraṃ manyase tadanantaram ||
[Duryodhana:] Bhishma was the leader of the army, richly gifted with age, valor, learning, and every warrior virtue. By that most glorious warrior, O Karna, who struck down the hosts of my enemies, we were guarded for ten days through valiant combat — by him, the great-souled one. Now that he, having done a deed beyond the power of others, has ascended to heaven, whom do you deem fit to be commander after him?
02718b191c56 · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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Duryodhana recalls with gratitude the ten days in which Bhishma 'guarded' the army, striking down the enemy — a gratitude free of hypocrisy. But the very word 'guarded' lays bare the earlier trouble: everything rested on one man, and now, with his departure 'to heaven,' the bewildered question arises — 'whom now, after him?' Thus it is revealed that an army with no foundation in truth is orphaned by the loss of its leader. The verse teaches that grateful remembrance of the fallen is fitting; but that a company forced to ask in confusion 'whom now?' betrays its own former shortsightedness — it had built its fortress upon a single mortal, and with his death was left without foundation.