Shloka 306
Bhīṣma on the Śara-Śayyā: Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa Approach the Eldest for Śānti
ज्येष्ठस्य पाण्डुपुत्रस्य शोकं भीष्म व्यपानुद । 'फिर अपने लिये उत्तम गुणसम्पन्न लोकोंकी सृष्टि करना आपके लिये कौन बड़ी बात है? अतः भीष्म! आपसे यह निवेदन है कि ये ज्येष्ठ पाण्डव अपने कुटुम्बीजनोंके वधसे बहुत संतप्त हो रहे हैं। आप इनका शोक दूर करें
jyeṣṭhasya pāṇḍuputrasya śokaṃ bhīṣma vyapānuda
Vaiśampāyana sprach: «O Bhīṣma, vertreibe den Kummer des ältesten Sohnes Pāṇḍus. Tief wird er gequält von der Trauer über das Gemetzel an den eigenen Verwandten; darum bitte ich dich, nimm ihm diese Qual.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ethical recovery after war: the rightful response to catastrophic violence is not triumph but the deliberate removal of grief through dharmic counsel. Bhīṣma is invoked as the authoritative teacher who can guide the eldest Pāṇḍava from paralyzing remorse toward responsible kingship grounded in dharma.
After the Kurukṣetra war, the eldest Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira) is overwhelmed by sorrow for the death of his relatives. Vaiśampāyana, narrating, urges Bhīṣma—lying on his bed of arrows yet still the supreme instructor—to dispel Yudhiṣṭhira’s grief by teaching him dharma.