एवम् उक्ता तु पुत्रेण भूरिद्रविणतेजसा ॥
माता सत्यवती भीष्मम् उवाच तदनन्तरम् ॥
जानामि ते स्थितिं सत्ये परां सत्यपराक्रम ॥
इच्छन् सृजेथास् त्रींल् लोकान् अन्यांस् त्वं स्वेन तेजसा ॥
जानामि चैव सत्यं तन् मदर्थं यद् अभाषथाः ॥
आपद्धर्मम् अवेक्षस्व वह पैतामहीं धुरम् ॥
यथा ते कुलतन्तुश् च धर्मश् च न पराभवेत् ॥
सुहृदश् च प्रहृष्येरंस् तथा कुरु परंतप ॥
evam uktā tu putreṇa bhūridraviṇatejasā ||
mātā satyavatī bhīṣmam uvāca tadanantaram ||
jānāmi te sthitiṃ satye parāṃ satyaparākrama ||
icchan sṛjethās trīṃl lokān anyāṃs tvaṃ svena tejasā ||
jānāmi caiva satyaṃ tan madarthaṃ yad abhāṣathāḥ ||
āpaddharmam avekṣasva vaha paitāmahīṃ dhuram ||
yathā te kulatantuś ca dharmaś ca na parābhavet ||
suhṛdaś ca prahṛṣyeraṃs tathā kuru paraṃtapa ||
'Thus addressed by her son, possessor of great wealth and splendor, the mother Satyavati then spoke to Bhishma: "I know your supreme steadfastness in truth, O hero whose valor is truth; were you to wish it, you could create three other worlds by your splendor. I also know the truth you spoke for my sake; but consider the dharma of distress (apad-dharma) and bear the ancestral burden. Act thus, O scorcher of foes, so that both the thread of your lineage and dharma may not be cut off, and your friends may rejoice."'
950ea156227d · प्रकाशित 12 जुल॰ 2026, 4:16:47 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here Satyavati, while acknowledging that Bhishma is right, still appeals to apad-dharma — the law for times of distress. The very concept of apad-dharma is significant: the scripture recognizes that in extreme need ordinary prescriptions may yield to extraordinary ones, so as to preserve the higher good. It shows that dharma is neither dead nor blind: it is calibrated to circumstance, and what is improper in ordinary times may become permissible or even required in distress — but only by the judgment of the learned, never by mere willfulness. Also telling is Satyavati's concern "that dharma may not be cut off": she asks not for a departure from dharma but for its preservation — the continuation of the lineage, without which the entire order of sacrifice and duty collapses. The sincerity of her motive is evident here: it is not self-interest but fear of the sacred line's extinction that moves her. And yet tension remains: apad-dharma cannot override Bhishma's personal vow. Thus the scripture leads toward a wise resolution — breaking no one's fidelity, but finding another path to continue the lineage, which Bhishma himself will soon propose.