वैशंपायन उवाच
ततो न ममृषे चैद्यस् तद् भीष्मवचनं तदा ॥
उवाच चैनं संक्रुद्धः पुनर् भीष्मम् अथोत्तरम् ॥
शिशुपाल उवाच
द्विषतां नो ऽस्तु भीष्मैष प्रभावः केशवस्य यः ॥
यस्य संस्तववक्ता त्वं बन्दिवत् सततोत्थितः ॥
संस्तवाय मनो भीष्म परेषां रमते सदा ॥
यदि संस्तौषि राज्ञस् त्वम् इमं हित्वा जनार्दनम् ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
tato na mamṛṣe caidyas tad bhīṣmavacanaṃ tadā ||
uvāca cainaṃ saṃkruddhaḥ punar bhīṣmam athottaram ||
śiśupāla uvāca
dviṣatāṃ no 'stu bhīṣmaiṣa prabhāvaḥ keśavasya yaḥ ||
yasya saṃstavavaktā tvaṃ bandivat satatotthitaḥ ||
saṃstavāya mano bhīṣma pareṣāṃ ramate sadā ||
yadi saṃstauṣi rājñas tvam imaṃ hitvā janārdanam ||
Then Chaidya [Shishupala] could not bear that word of Bhishma's, and, enraged, again said to Bhishma in reply: "Let whatever might Keshava has, O Bhishma, fall to our enemies — the might of him whose praiser you have become, like a bard, ever at the ready. Your mind, O Bhishma, always delights in praising others; if indeed you must praise kings, then set aside this Janardana —"
9ebf06e1ec3c · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:49:21 PM UTC
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The reviler mocks the very service of praise: to glorify the Lord is, in his eyes, the baseness of a bard. It is telling that the glorification of Krishna, the highest of occupations, appears to the proud man as flattery. The verse teaches that the same deed is judged oppositely by a pure and an impure heart: where the devotee sees a blessed duty — to glorify the Supreme — the envious man sees sycophancy. And the very mockery of "Krishna's bard" turns into praise of Bhishma: to be "ever at the ready" to sing the Lord's glory is no disgrace but a crown. The reviler aims to wound, yet only names Bhishma as what he truly and blessedly is — Hari's tireless praiser.