Shloka 23
ममापि पुत्रि भर्ता ते प्रसादं कर्तुमरहति । अपत्यस्य प्रदानेन समर्थश्न महातपा:,“बेटी! तुम्हारे पतिको पुत्र प्रदान करनेके लिये मुझपर भी कृपा करनी चाहिये, क्योंकि वे महान् तपस्वी और समर्थ हैं!
mamāpi putri bhartā te prasādaṁ kartum arhati | apatyasya pradānena samarthaś ca mahātapāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Daughter, your husband should also show me favor, for I too am capable of granting offspring. I am a great ascetic and possess the power to bestow a child.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames progeny as a dharmic concern tied to capability and consent: one who is spiritually powerful (mahātapāḥ) and competent (samarthaḥ) may be regarded as able to secure lineage, but the act is presented as requiring gracious approval (prasāda) within the moral order.
Bhīṣma addresses a woman as “daughter” and asserts that her husband should show him favor, because Bhīṣma claims he has the ascetic power and ability to bestow a child—indicating a discussion centered on securing offspring and the means considered legitimate or effective in that context.