भीष्म उवाच
नास्मा अनुनयो देयो नायम् अर्हति सान्त्वनम् ॥
लोकवृद्धतमे कृष्णे यो ऽर्हणां नानुमन्यते ॥
क्षत्रियः क्षत्रियं जित्वा रणे रणकृतां वरः ॥
यो मुञ्चति वशे कृत्वा गुरुर् भवति तस्य सः ॥
अस्यां च समितौ राज्ञाम् एकम् अप्य् अजितं युधि ॥
न पश्यामि महीपालं सात्वतीपुत्रतेजसा ॥
bhīṣma uvāca
nāsmā anunayo deyo nāyam arhati sāntvanam ||
lokavṛddhatame kṛṣṇe yo 'rhaṇāṃ nānumanyate ||
kṣatriyaḥ kṣatriyaṃ jitvā raṇe raṇakṛtāṃ varaḥ ||
yo muñcati vaśe kṛtvā gurur bhavati tasya saḥ ||
asyāṃ ca samitau rājñām ekam apy ajitaṃ yudhi ||
na paśyāmi mahīpālaṃ sātvatīputratejasā ||
"He should not be shown leniency, he does not deserve appeasement — he who does not approve of honoring Krishna, the eldest in the world. A kshatriya, the best of warriors, who conquers a kshatriya in battle and releases him after subduing him, becomes his master. And in this assembly of kings I do not see a single lord of the earth who has not been vanquished in battle by the might of the son of Satvati."
e35258b062b5 · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:40:27 PM UTC
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Bhishma rejects the path of conciliation: appeasement is not fitting for one who reviles the Lord. Telling is the distinction here — Yudhishthira's gentleness toward one who has strayed and Bhishma's firmness toward one who is hardened do not contradict but complete each other: one seeks to enlighten, the other refuses to flatter evil. And the argument about mastery is subtle: Krishna, having conquered yet not destroyed all these kings, is by the very law of kshatra their "guru," their master. The verse teaches that the Lord's primacy is not imposed but earned and acknowledged: he is master not by title but because he has overcome all and spared all; and honoring him is simply recognition of what has already come to pass.