Shloka 19
Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)
तव हानुमते भीष्म नियतं स महातपा: । विचित्रवीर्य क्षेत्रेषु पुत्रानुत्पादयिष्यति,'भीष्म! तुम्हारी अनुमति मिल जाय, तो महा-तपस्वी व्यास निश्चय ही विचित्रवीर्यकी स्त्रियोंसे पुत्रोंको उत्पन्न करेंगे”
tava hānumate bhīṣma niyataṃ sa mahātapāḥ | vicitravīrya-kṣetreṣu putrān utpādayiṣyati |
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Bhīṣma, wenn du deine Zustimmung gibst, wird jener große Asket (Vyāsa) gewiss Söhne bei den Gemahlinnen Vicitravīryas zeugen.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that extraordinary measures affecting family life and social norms are framed as legitimate only when anchored in dharma—here, dynastic responsibility and explicit consent. Bhīṣma’s approval functions as moral and political authorization, emphasizing accountability and due sanction in sensitive decisions.
In the crisis after Vicitravīrya’s death without heirs, the elders consider niyoga: Vyāsa, famed for tapas, is to be invited to beget sons through Vicitravīrya’s widows. Vaiśampāyana reports that, if Bhīṣma permits, Vyāsa will certainly accomplish this, setting up the birth of the next Kuru heirs.