Shloka 17
ऋष्विम्भिब्रह्मकल्पैश्व भ्रातृभि: सह धर्मज: । आसाटद्य शरतल्पस्थमृषिभि: परिवारितम्
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
ṛṣvimbhi brahmakalpaiś ca bhrātṛbhiḥ saha dharmajaḥ |
āsādya śaratālpastham ṛṣibhiḥ parivāritam |
tad-anantaraṃ kuru-nandanaḥ dharmaputraḥ dharmarājaḥ yudhiṣṭhiraḥ brahmajīva sama-tejasvī ṛtvigbhiḥ bhrātṛbhiḥ tathā ṛṣibhiś ca ghṛtaḥ bāṇa-śayyāyāṃ śayānaṃ bharata-śreṣṭhaṃ gaṅgāputraṃ bhīṣmam etad uvāca ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Dann trat Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira, der Sohn des Dharma, zusammen mit seinen Brüdern und umgeben von ehrwürdigen Weisen — Männern von brahmanischer Heiligkeit — zu Bhīṣma, dem Besten der Bhāratas, dem Sohn der Gaṅgā, der auf seinem Pfeillager ruhte. Inmitten von Priestern, Brüdern und ṛṣis, strahlend wie Brahmā selbst, wandte sich Yudhiṣṭhira in folgender Weise an Bhīṣma.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the ethical setting for instruction: a righteous king (Yudhiṣṭhira) approaches a dying elder (Bhīṣma) in the presence of sages and priests, signaling that dharma is to be learned through humility, proper counsel, and authoritative tradition—especially after the moral trauma of war.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Yudhiṣṭhira, with his brothers and accompanied by ṛṣis and priests, goes to Bhīṣma who lies on the arrow-bed, and then begins to speak to him—introducing the forthcoming discourse of Anuśāsana (instruction) delivered by Bhīṣma.