भीष्म उवाच
गुणैः समुदितं सम्यग् इदं नः प्रथितं कुलम् ॥
अत्य् अन्यान् पृथिवीपालान् पृथिव्याम् अधिराज्यभाक् ॥
रक्षितं राजभिः पूर्वैर् धर्मविद्भिर् महात्मभिः ॥
नोत्सादम् अगमच् चेदं कदा चिद् इह नः कुलम् ॥
मया च सत्यवत्या च कृष्णेन च महात्मना ॥
समवस्थापितं भूयो युष्मासु कुलतन्तुषु ॥
वर्धते तद् इदं पुत्र कुलं सागरवद् यथा ॥
तथा मया विधातव्यं त्वया चैव विशेषतः ॥
bhīṣma uvāca
guṇaiḥ samuditaṃ samyag idaṃ naḥ prathitaṃ kulam ||
aty anyān pṛthivīpālān pṛthivyām adhirājyabhāk ||
rakṣitaṃ rājabhiḥ pūrvair dharmavidbhir mahātmabhiḥ ||
notsādam agamac cedaṃ kadā cid iha naḥ kulam ||
mayā ca satyavatyā ca kṛṣṇena ca mahātmanā ||
samavasthāpitaṃ bhūyo yuṣmāsu kulatantuṣu ||
vardhate tad idaṃ putra kulaṃ sāgaravad yathā ||
tathā mayā vidhātavyaṃ tvayā caiva viśeṣataḥ ||
Bhishma said: "This renowned family of ours is fully endowed with virtues and holds supreme sovereignty on earth, above all other kings of the world. Protected by former kings, knowers of dharma, great of soul, it has never here come to ruin. By me, by Satyavati, and by the great-souled Vyasa it has again been established in you, the continuers of the lineage. This family grows, my son, like the ocean; and this must be my care, and especially yours."
c1e8f162608c · publicado 12 jul 2026, 16:30:26 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here Bhishma, guardian of the family, turns his attention to its continuation — the marriage of the princes. It is striking with what responsibility he speaks of the lineage: not as his own possession, but as an entrusted inheritance, preserved by righteous kings before him, which twice stood on the brink of extinction and twice was restored. Here is the ideal of service to one's lineage and of the continuity of dharma: each generation is only a guardian, bound to pass the inheritance on unextinguished. The comparison of the growing family to the ocean is telling — an image of inexhaustible fullness. It is also telling that Bhishma places the care "especially" upon Vidura: he chooses the wisest and most righteous of the brothers as counselor in the matter of the family's continuation. Thus the scripture leads into the sequence of marriages from which the chief figures of the coming drama will arise.