Shloka 35
स्वच्छन्दमरणं दत्तमवध्यत्वं रणे तथा । तस्मान्मृत्युमहं मन्ये प्राप्तकालमिवात्मन:
sañjaya uvāca |
svacchandamaraṇaṁ dattam avadhyatvaṁ raṇe tathā |
tasmān mṛtyum ahaṁ manye prāptakālam ivātmanaḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Ihm wurde der Tod nach eigenem Willen gewährt und ebenso Unverwundbarkeit im Kampf. Darum meine ich, dass für ihn nun die Stunde des Todes gekommen ist, gleichsam für sein eigenes Selbst.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when protected by extraordinary boons, a warrior’s end is ultimately governed by kāla (the ripening of time) and by inner resolve; true agency here is not domination over events, but the ethical acceptance of the right moment—especially when one’s continued survival no longer serves dharma.
Sañjaya reports that Bhīṣma possesses two famed boons—death at will and invulnerability in battle—and concludes that, amid the intensifying assault, Bhīṣma himself now recognizes the due time to accept death voluntarily rather than be ‘killed’ by others.