कर्णो वा समरश्लाघी द्रौणिर् वा द्विजसत्तमः ॥
दिव्यास्त्रविदुषः सर्वे भवन्तो हि बले मम ॥
एतद् इच्छाम्य् अहं ज्ञातुं परं कौतूहलं हि मे ॥
हृदि नित्यं महाबाहो वक्तुम् अर्हसि तन् मम ॥
भीष्म उवाच
अनुरूपं कुरुश्रेष्ठ त्वय्य् एतत् पृथिवीपते ॥
बलाबलम् अमित्राणां स्वेषां च यदि पृच्छसि ॥
शृणु राजन् मम रणे या शक्तिः परमा भवेत् ॥
अस्त्रवीर्यं रणे यच् च भुजयोश् च महाभुज ॥
आर्जवेनैव युद्धेन योद्धव्य इतरो जनः ॥
मायायुद्धेन मायावी इत्य् एतद् धर्मनिश्चयः ॥
karṇo vā samaraślāghī drauṇir vā dvijasattamaḥ ||
divyāstraviduṣaḥ sarve bhavanto hi bale mama ||
etad icchāmy ahaṃ jñātuṃ paraṃ kautūhalaṃ hi me ||
hṛdi nityaṃ mahābāho vaktum arhasi tan mama ||
bhīṣma uvāca
anurūpaṃ kuruśreṣṭha tvayy etat pṛthivīpate ||
balābalam amitrāṇāṃ sveṣāṃ ca yadi pṛcchasi ||
śṛṇu rājan mama raṇe yā śaktiḥ paramā bhavet ||
astravīryaṃ raṇe yac ca bhujayoś ca mahābhuja ||
ārjavenaiva yuddhena yoddhavya itaro janaḥ ||
māyāyuddhena māyāvī ity etad dharmaniścayaḥ ||
"Or Karna, renowned in battle, or Drona's son, foremost of the twice-born? For all of you in my army know the divine weapons. I wish to know this, for there is a constant and great curiosity in my heart. O mighty-armed one, you must tell me this." Bhishma said: "O best of the Kurus, O lord of the earth, it befits you to ask about the strength and weakness of enemies and of our own side. Listen, O king, what my supreme strength in battle is, what the might of my weapons and of my arms is, O mighty-armed one. An ordinary man should be fought with an honest fight, and a deceiver with a fight of deceit. Such is the settled decision of dharma."
40da97c7be09 · publicado 17 jul 2026, 6:41:26 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
This chapter returns the conversation to a military assessment of strength before the battle. Duryodhana wants to measure the Pandava army in number of days, but the answers of the senior warriors reveal differing measures of realism and self-confidence. Bhishma speaks as a commander bound by the dharma of battle: an honest fight against an honest foe, a deceitful one against a deceiver. Drona admits his age but not any loss of strength. Karna, meanwhile, promises the impossible -- before he has met Arjuna and Krishna -- and Bhishma's laughter exposes the gap between boasting and true battle knowledge.