येषाम् अर्च्यतमः कृष्णस् त्वं च येषां प्रदर्शकः ॥
धर्मवाक् त्वम् अधर्मज्ञः सतां मार्गाद् अवप्लुतः ॥
को हि धर्मिणम् आत्मानं जानञ् ज्ञानवतां वरः ॥
कुर्याद् यथा त्वया भीष्म कृतं धर्मम् अवेक्षता ॥
अन्यकामा हि धर्मज्ञ कन्यका प्राज्ञमानिना ॥
अम्बा नामेति भद्रं ते कथं सापहृता त्वया ॥
yeṣām arcyatamaḥ kṛṣṇas tvaṃ ca yeṣāṃ pradarśakaḥ ||
dharmavāk tvam adharmajñaḥ satāṃ mārgād avaplutaḥ ||
ko hi dharmiṇam ātmānaṃ jānañ jñānavatāṃ varaḥ ||
kuryād yathā tvayā bhīṣma kṛtaṃ dharmam avekṣatā ||
anyakāmā hi dharmajña kanyakā prājñamāninā ||
ambā nāmeti bhadraṃ te kathaṃ sāpahṛtā tvayā ||
"— of the Pandavas, whose most worthy of worship is Krishna and whose mentor you are; you who speak dharma yet know not dharma, fallen away from the path of the good. For who, knowing himself righteous, best among the knowing, would act as you, O Bhishma, have acted, [supposedly] with an eye to dharma? The maiden who desired another, O 'knower of dharma', you who consider yourself wise — Amba by name — how did you carry her off?"
b884eeb23b73 · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:40:28 PM UTC
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Shishupala rakes up the long-past affair of Amba, holding it out as a blot upon Bhishma. Telling is the fact that malice feeds on the past: finding no fault in the present, it digs through what is bygone, twisting deeds done in the duty of a kshatriya into crimes. The verse teaches wariness of a judgment that hunts old shadows to blacken a righteous man: deeds that had their own causes and their own law, torn out of their time and circumstance, are easily turned into an accusation. And whoever, unable to bear honor paid to the Lord, begins to tally another's old deeds is moved not by love of truth but by a thirst to wound — for one comes to truth with forgiveness, but to vengeance with a memory for wrongs.