Shloka 24
Bhīṣma’s Dream-Counsel and the Prasvāpa Astra (भीष्मस्वप्नदर्शनम् / प्रस्वापास्त्रोपदेशः)
नारदेनैव सहिता: समागम्येदमब्रुवन् । निवर्तस्व रणात् तात मानयस्व द्विजोत्तमम्
nāradenaiva sahitāḥ samāgamyedam abruvan | nivartasva raṇāt tāta mānayasva dvijottamam ||
وقد جاءوا مجتمعين ومعهم نارادا وقالوا: «يا بُنيّ، تنحَّ عن القتال؛ وأكرِم أكرمَ الدِّوِجَة (المولودين مرتين) حقَّ الإكرام».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that dharma may require stepping back from violence when higher ethical duties—such as honoring and heeding a venerable brāhmaṇa or sage—are at stake. Reverence, self-restraint, and right counsel are presented as safeguards against rash warfare.
A group, accompanied by the sage Nārada, approaches and advises someone addressed as “tāta” to withdraw from the battlefield and to honor a ‘dvijottama’—a foremost twice-born—indicating an attempt to avert conflict through moral and spiritual admonition.