शिशुपाल उवाच
विभीषिकाभिर् बह्वीभिर् भीषयन् सर्वपार्थिवान् ॥
न व्यपत्रपसे कस्माद् वृद्धः सन् कुलपांसनः ॥
युक्तम् एतत् तृतीयायां प्रकृतौ वर्तता त्वया ॥
वक्तुं धर्माद् अपेतार्थं त्वं हि सर्वकुरूत्तमः ॥
नावि नौर् इव संबद्धा यथान्धो वान्धम् अन्वियात् ॥
तथाभूता हि कौरव्या भीष्म येषां त्वम् अग्रणीः ॥
śiśupāla uvāca
vibhīṣikābhir bahvībhir bhīṣayan sarvapārthivān ||
na vyapatrapase kasmād vṛddhaḥ san kulapāṃsanaḥ ||
yuktam etat tṛtīyāyāṃ prakṛtau vartatā tvayā ||
vaktuṃ dharmād apetārthaṃ tvaṃ hi sarvakurūttamaḥ ||
nāvi naur iva saṃbaddhā yathāndho vāndham anviyāt ||
tathābhūtā hi kauravyā bhīṣma yeṣāṃ tvam agraṇīḥ ||
"Frightening all the kings with many terrors, why are you not ashamed, being an old man, defiler of your lineage? It befits you, dwelling in the 'third nature' [as a eunuch], to speak what has fallen away from dharma — since you are the 'best of all the Kurus'! Like a boat tied to another boat, or like a blind man following a blind man — such are the Kauravas, O Bhishma, of whom you are the leader."
1399b4e869a9 · प्रकाशित 16 जुल॰ 2026, 3:40:28 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The slanderer opens his speech by mocking both Bhishma's grey hair and his vow: he calls the old man a "defiler of the lineage," the celibate a "third nature." Telling is the fact that for one blinded by pride nothing is sacred — neither venerable age nor a lofty vow can restrain his tongue. The verse teaches how to recognize the spirit of slander: where a true argument has no force, mockery of the person is used instead of the matter. And the blindness of the "blind leading the blind" that Shishupala ascribes to others is in truth an accurate description of himself — for one who slanders the sacred is precisely one who does not see, and leads others into darkness.