पाञ्चाल्यं तु महाबाहो नाहं हन्यां शिखण्डिनम् ॥
उद्यतेषुम् अभिप्रेक्ष्य प्रतियुध्यन्तम् आहवे ॥
लोकस् तद् वेद यद् अहं पितुः प्रियचिकीर्षया ॥
प्राप्तं राज्यं परित्यज्य ब्रह्मचर्ये धृतव्रतः ॥
चित्राङ्गदं कौरवाणाम् अहं राज्ये ऽभ्यषेचयम् ॥
विचित्रवीर्यं च शिशुं यौवराज्ये ऽभ्यषेचयम् ॥
देवव्रतत्वं विख्याप्य पृथिव्यां सर्वराजसु ॥
नैव हन्यां स्त्रियं जातु न स्त्रीपूर्वं कथं चन ॥
स हि स्त्रीपूर्वको राजञ् शिखण्डी यदि ते श्रुतः ॥
कन्या भूत्वा पुमाञ् जातो न योत्स्ये तेन भारत ॥
pāñcālyaṃ tu mahābāho nāhaṃ hanyāṃ śikhaṇḍinam ||
udyateṣum abhiprekṣya pratiyudhyantam āhave ||
lokas tad veda yad ahaṃ pituḥ priyacikīrṣayā ||
prāptaṃ rājyaṃ parityajya brahmacarye dhṛtavrataḥ ||
citrāṅgadaṃ kauravāṇām ahaṃ rājye 'bhyaṣecayam ||
vicitravīryaṃ ca śiśuṃ yauvarājye 'bhyaṣecayam ||
devavratatvaṃ vikhyāpya pṛthivyāṃ sarvarājasu ||
naiva hanyāṃ striyaṃ jātu na strīpūrvaṃ kathaṃ cana ||
sa hi strīpūrvako rājañ śikhaṇḍī yadi te śrutaḥ ||
kanyā bhūtvā pumāñ jāto na yotsye tena bhārata ||
But the Panchala prince, O mighty-armed one, Shikhandin, I shall not slay, even seeing him before me with arrow drawn, fighting against me in battle. The world knows that, desiring to please my father, I renounced the kingdom that had come to me and held firm to the vow of brahmacharya. I anointed Chitrangada on the throne of the Kauravas, and I anointed the child Vichitravirya as heir apparent. Having proclaimed the name Devavrata over the earth among all kings, I will never slay a woman, nor in any way one who was formerly a woman. For Shikhandin, O king, if you have heard of him, was formerly a woman: born a girl, he became a man. Therefore I will not fight with him, O Bharata.
ddf5d755c83b · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:32:37 AM UTC
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Here Bhishma completes his assessment of the Pandava army while at the same time laying bare his own limits. He is ready to meet Arjuna and Krishna, ready to hold back kings and allies, yet he refuses to fight Shikhandin because of his own vow and Shikhandin's former birth as a woman. This limit is not weakness but fidelity to his word: even on the threshold of the great war, Bhishma remains bound by the dharma of his own vow.