ज्ञानवृद्धा मया राजन् बहवः पर्युपासिताः ॥
तेषां कथयतां शौरेर् अहं गुणवतो गुणान् ॥
समागतानाम् अश्रौषं बहून् बहुमतान् सताम् ॥
कर्माण्य् अपि च यान्य् अस्य जन्मप्रभृति धीमतः ॥
बहुशः कथ्यमानानि नरैर् भूयः श्रुतानि मे ॥
न केवलं वयं कामाच् चेदिराज जनार्दनम् ॥
न संबन्धं पुरस्कृत्य कृतार्थं वा कथं चन ॥
jñānavṛddhā mayā rājan bahavaḥ paryupāsitāḥ ||
teṣāṃ kathayatāṃ śaurer ahaṃ guṇavato guṇān ||
samāgatānām aśrauṣaṃ bahūn bahumatān satām ||
karmāṇy api ca yāny asya janmaprabhṛti dhīmataḥ ||
bahuśaḥ kathyamānāni narair bhūyaḥ śrutāni me ||
na kevalaṃ vayaṃ kāmāc cedirāja janārdanam ||
na saṃbandhaṃ puraskṛtya kṛtārthaṃ vā kathaṃ cana ||
"I have served many elders in knowledge, O king; from them, as they told of the virtues of the virtuous Shauri, I listened [about him]; and his deeds from his very birth, the deeds of the wise one, recounted many times by men, I have heard again and again. Not merely out of whim, O king of Chedi, nor placing kinship first, nor honoring him only as one who has attained his end in some way —"
0231c7f2682f · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:40:27 PM UTC
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Bhishma grounds his reverence not in feeling but in testimony: he has heard of Krishna from many "elders in knowledge." It is telling that honor for the Lord rests here on tradition — on the account of his deeds "from his very birth," handed down by those who know. And Bhishma preemptively dismisses lesser motives: neither whim, nor kinship, nor gain moves him. The verse teaches that true worship rests not on whim or kinship's fondness, but on knowledge of the Lord received from the worthy; and hearing of Krishna's deeds from the mouths of the wise is the path by which mature, well-founded reverence is born.