Shloka 18
Bhaṅgāśvanopākhyāna — On comparative affection in strī–puruṣa union (भङ्गाश्वनोपाख्यानम्)
अथोवाच स राजर्षि: स्त्रीभूतो वदतां वर:
atho'vāca sa rājarṣiḥ strībhūto vadatāṁ varaḥ | tatra strīrūpadhārī vaktṝṇāṁ śreṣṭho rājarṣiḥ bhaṅgāsvana uvāca — “ahaṁ svayā senayā parivṛtaḥ mṛgayāṁ kartuṁ nirgataḥ; kintu daivapreritena bhrāntacittena bhayānakaṁ vanaṁ praviṣṭavān.”
Bhīṣma sprach: Da erhob jener königliche ṛṣi—zur Frau verwandelt und der Vornehmste unter den Rednern—seine Stimme. Dort erklärte der königliche ṛṣi Bhangasvana, der eine weibliche Gestalt angenommen hatte: „Ich zog zur Jagd aus, von meinen eigenen Truppen umringt; doch vom Antrieb des Schicksals getrieben, wurde mein Geist verwirrt, und ich verirrte mich in einen furchtbaren Wald.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral causality: royal power and intention do not guarantee right outcomes when the mind becomes confused; ‘daiva’ (fate/divine dispensation) and inner delusion can divert one into danger. It prepares the ethical reflection that actions like hunting and indulgence, when joined with heedlessness, can lead to unforeseen consequences and a turning point in one’s dharmic life.
Bhishma introduces the speech of the royal sage Bhangasvana, who is presently in a woman’s form. Bhangasvana begins recounting how, while going out to hunt surrounded by his troops, he became mentally bewildered under the influence of fate and wandered into a frightening forest—setting up the events that follow in his story.