Shloka 21
भीष्म उवाच एवमुक्तः स पितृभिः पितृन् रामो<ब्रवीदिदम् । नाहं युधि निवर्तेयमिति मे व्रतमाहितम्,भीष्मजी कहते हैं--राजन्! पितरोंके ऐसा कहनेपर परशुरामजीने उनसे इस प्रकार कहा--मैं युद्धमें पीठ नहीं दिखाऊँगा। यह मेरा चिरकालसे धारण किया हुआ व्रत है
bhīṣma uvāca evam uktaḥ sa pitṛbhiḥ pitṝn rāmo 'bravīd idam | nāhaṃ yudhi nivarteyam iti me vratam āhitam ||
قال بيشما: لما قال أسلافه ذلك، أجاب راما (باراشوراما) أولئك الأجداد قائلاً: «لن أرتدّ في ساحة القتال؛ فهذا نذري (فراتا) الذي حملته منذ زمن بعيد».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores steadfastness to a solemn vow—especially a warrior’s pledge not to retreat—while also implying an ethical tension: even venerable ancestral counsel may not override a personally undertaken vrata when one’s sense of dharma is bound to it.
Bhishma narrates that after the Pitrs address Rama (Parashurama), Parashurama responds directly to them, declaring that he will not withdraw from battle because he has long maintained a vow of never showing his back in war.