Mahabharata 5.154.1

5.154.1

janamejaya uvāca |
āpageyaṃ mahātmānaṃ bhīṣmaṃ śastrabhṛtāṃ varam |
pitāmahaṃ bhāratānāṃ dhvajaṃ sarvamahīkṣitām || 1 ||

"Janamejaya said, 'When Yudhishthira heard that Bhishma, the high-souled son of Ganga, the foremost of all wielders of weapons, the grandsire of the Bharatas, the head of all the kings, the rival of Vrihaspati in intellect, resembling the ocean in gravity, the mountains of Himavat in calmness, the Creator himself in nobleness, and the sun in energy, and capable of slaying hostile hosts like great Indra himself by showering his arrows, was installed, till his removal by death, in the command of the Kuru army on the eve of the great sacrifice of battle, terrific in its mien and capable of making one's hairs stand on their ends, what did that mighty-armed son of Pandu, that foremost of wielders of weapons, say? What also did Bhima and Arjuna say? And what too did Krishna say?'