Shloka 37
Droṇa–Vidura–Gāndhārī Counsel in the Royal Assembly (धर्मार्थयुक्ता सभा-उपदेश-प्रकरणम्)
अयाचं भ्रातृदारेषु तदा व्यासं महामुनिम् | सह मात्रा महाराज प्रसाद्य तमृषिं तदा
ayācaṁ bhrātṛdāreṣu tadā vyāsaṁ mahāmunim | saha mātrā mahārāja prasādya tam ṛṣiṁ tadā ||
Bhishma sprach: „Dann, o König, nachdem ich meine Mutter und die anderen durch ehrerbietiges Zureden gewonnen hatte, trat ich vor den großen Weisen Vyasa; und nachdem ich jenen Rishi erfreut hatte, bat ich ihn, auf den Witwen meines Bruders Söhne zu zeugen. O Zierde der Bharata-Linie, der Maharshi zeigte Mitgefühl und ließ aus jenen Frauen drei Söhne hervorgehen.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights a dharmic priority in royal life: preserving the lineage and stability of the kingdom through sanctioned means (niyoga), carried out with consent-seeking, restraint, and reverence toward spiritual authority.
Bhishma recounts how he persuaded his mother and others, then approached the sage Vyasa and requested him to father children with his deceased brother’s widows, resulting (in the wider episode) in the birth of three sons who continue the Kuru line.