निकृन्तन्तम् अनीकानि शरदंष्ट्रं तरस्विनम् ॥
चापव्यात्ताननं घोरम् असिजिह्वं दुरासदम् ॥
अत्यन्यान् पुरुषव्याघ्रान् ह्रीमन्तम् अपराजितम् ॥
पातयाम् आस कौन्तेयः कथं तम् अजितं युधि ॥
उग्रधन्वानम् उग्रेषुं वर्तमानं रथोत्तमे ॥
परेषाम् उत्तमाङ्गानि प्रचिन्वन्तं शितेषुभिः ॥
पाण्डवानां महत् सैन्यं यं दृष्ट्वोद्यन्तम् आहवे ॥
कालाग्निम् इव दुर्धर्षं समवेष्टत नित्यशः ॥
परिकृष्य स सेनां मे दशरात्रम् अनीकहा ॥
जगामास्तम् इवादित्यः कृत्वा कर्म सुदुष्करम् ॥
यः स शक्र इवाक्षय्यं वर्षं शरमयं सृजन् ॥
जघान युधि योधानाम् अर्बुदं दशभिर् दिनैः ॥
स शेते निष्टनन् भूमौ वातरुग्ण इव द्रुमः ॥
मम दुर्मन्त्रितेनासौ यथा नार्हः स भारतः ॥
कथं शांतनवं दृष्ट्वा पाण्डवानाम् अनीकिनी ॥
प्रहर्तुम् अशकत् तत्र भीष्मं भीमपराक्रमम् ॥
nikṛntantam anīkāni śaradaṃṣṭraṃ tarasvinam ||
cāpavyāttānanaṃ ghoram asijihvaṃ durāsadam ||
atyanyān puruṣavyāghrān hrīmantam aparājitam ||
pātayām āsa kaunteyaḥ kathaṃ tam ajitaṃ yudhi ||
ugradhanvānam ugreṣuṃ vartamānaṃ rathottame ||
pareṣām uttamāṅgāni pracinvantaṃ śiteṣubhiḥ ||
pāṇḍavānāṃ mahat sainyaṃ yaṃ dṛṣṭvodyantam āhave ||
kālāgnim iva durdharṣaṃ samaveṣṭata nityaśaḥ ||
parikṛṣya sa senāṃ me daśarātram anīkahā ||
jagāmāstam ivādityaḥ kṛtvā karma suduṣkaram ||
yaḥ sa śakra ivākṣayyaṃ varṣaṃ śaramayaṃ sṛjan ||
jaghāna yudhi yodhānām arbudaṃ daśabhir dinaiḥ ||
sa śete niṣṭanan bhūmau vātarugṇa iva drumaḥ ||
mama durmantritenāsau yathā nārhaḥ sa bhārataḥ ||
kathaṃ śāṃtanavaṃ dṛṣṭvā pāṇḍavānām anīkinī ||
prahartum aśakat tatra bhīṣmaṃ bhīmaparākramam ||
"How did the son of Kunti bring down this unconquered one in battle — swift, rending the armies, with arrows like fangs, a bow like a gaping mouth, a sword like a tongue, terrible and unassailable, surpassing every other tiger among men, noble and unvanquished? He stood upon the finest chariot with a fierce bow and fierce arrows, cutting down with keen shafts the heads of his enemies. The great army of the Pandavas, seeing him surge forward into the fight, continually closed around him like the unassailable fire of time. For ten nights this destroyer of armies wore down my forces; having accomplished an almost impossible feat, he went down like the setting sun. Like Shakra, he poured forth an inexhaustible rain of arrows and in ten days slew a vast multitude of warriors in battle. Now he lies on the ground, groaning, like a tree broken by the wind. Because of my own ill counsel, this Bharata came to a state he did not deserve. How could the army of the Pandavas, on seeing Bhishma of terrible prowess, ever have been able to strike at the son of Shantanu?"
c8ac3a51ac5c · प्रकाशित 17 जुल॰ 2026, 8:47:27 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Dhritarashtra repeats the images he has heard from Sanjaya, but now they become a confession. His words about "my own ill counsel" show that, deep in his grief, he knows the cause: Bhishma did not fall for lack of strength, but because of the unrighteous course onto which he had been placed.