धनुर् अन्यत् समादाय शिखण्डी तु महायशाः ॥
अवारयत् कूर्मनखैर् आशुगैर् हृदिकात्मजम् ॥
ततः क्रुद्धो रणे राजन् हृदिकस्यात्मसंभवः ॥
अभिदुद्राव वेगेन याज्ञसेनिं महारथम् ॥
भीष्मस्य समरे राजन् मृत्योर् हेतुं महात्मनः ॥
विदर्शयन् बलं शूरः शार्दूल इव कुञ्जरम् ॥
dhanur anyat samādāya śikhaṇḍī tu mahāyaśāḥ ||
avārayat kūrmanakhair āśugair hṛdikātmajam ||
tataḥ kruddho raṇe rājan hṛdikasyātmasaṃbhavaḥ ||
abhidudrāva vegena yājñaseniṃ mahāratham ||
bhīṣmasya samare rājan mṛtyor hetuṃ mahātmanaḥ ||
vidarśayan balaṃ śūraḥ śārdūla iva kuñjaram ||
Taking up another bow, Shikhandin, greatly renowned, held back the son of Hridika with swift arrows tipped with tortoise-claw heads. Then, enraged in battle, O king, the son of Hridika rushed with great speed at the son of Yajnasena [Shikhandin], the great warrior, the cause of death of the great-souled Bhishma, O king, displaying his strength, the hero, as a tiger charges an elephant.
9570023162ee · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:02:23 PM UTC
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Shikhandin is called "the cause of Bhishma's death" -- fate chose him as the instrument against the unconquerable grandsire. Fittingly, the terrible Kritavarman too rushes upon him "like a tiger at an elephant." The verse teaches that in the higher order each event has its appointed agent: one whose destiny is to bring down the invincible thereby becomes himself a focus of enmity, for a role in the working of fate lays its burden on the one who fulfills it.