भीष्म उवाच
न धर्मसौक्ष्म्यात् सुभगे विवक्तुं; शक्नोमि ते प्रश्नम् इमं यथावत् ॥
अस्वो ह्य् अशक्तः पणितुं परस्वं; स्त्रियश् च भर्तुर् वशतां समीक्ष्य ॥
त्यजेत सर्वां पृथिवीं समृद्धां; युधिष्ठिरः सत्यम् अथो न जह्यात् ॥
उक्तं जितो ऽस्मीति च पाण्डवेन; तस्मान् न शक्नोमि विवेक्तुम् एतत् ॥
द्यूते ऽद्वितीयः शकुनिर् नरेषु; कुन्तीसुतस् तेन निसृष्टकामः ॥
न मन्यते तां निकृतिं महात्मा; तस्मान् न ते प्रश्नम् इमं ब्रवीमि ॥
bhīṣma uvāca
na dharmasaukṣmyāt subhage vivaktuṃ; śaknomi te praśnam imaṃ yathāvat ||
asvo hy aśaktaḥ paṇituṃ parasvaṃ; striyaś ca bhartur vaśatāṃ samīkṣya ||
tyajeta sarvāṃ pṛthivīṃ samṛddhāṃ; yudhiṣṭhiraḥ satyam atho na jahyāt ||
uktaṃ jito 'smīti ca pāṇḍavena; tasmān na śaknomi vivektum etat ||
dyūte 'dvitīyaḥ śakunir nareṣu; kuntīsutas tena nisṛṣṭakāmaḥ ||
na manyate tāṃ nikṛtiṃ mahātmā; tasmān na te praśnam imaṃ bravīmi ||
[Bhishma:] "By the subtlety of dharma, O fortunate one, I cannot resolve your question as it should be resolved: with one hand, one who is not his own master is not empowered to stake what belongs to another; on the other, wives have always been under a husband's authority — [this must be] weighed. Yudhishthira would give up the whole prosperous earth, but he would not abandon truth; he himself said, 'I am won,' Pandava that he is; therefore I cannot decide this. In gambling there is no one among men equal to Shakuni; and yet the son of Kunti was drawn in by him with his own consent, [and] the great-souled one does not consider that deceit; therefore I do not answer your question."
c50cc8ed0eab · प्रकाशित 16 जुल॰ 2026, 4:03:37 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Bhishma — the wisest of them — admits: "I cannot resolve this, because of the subtlety of dharma." This humility of knowledge is telling: even the greatest bows before the depth of the law, not daring to decide where two rules converge. On one hand, one who has lost himself has no authority over his wife; on the other, the wife is subject to her husband's will: here dharma is subtle. The verse teaches that there are questions before which even wisdom falls silent: better to say honestly "I do not know" than to lie with false certainty. But it is grievous that this very subtlety becomes a loophole for evil — where the wise hesitate, the violator acts. The hesitation of the righteous and the resolve of the wicked — this is the tragedy of the hour: conscience seeks the truth, but wrong does not wait; and while Bhishma weighs, Draupadi is being dragged.