Shloka 18
यमोडब्रवीन्मां न मृतोडसि सौम्य यम॑ पश्येत्याह स त्वां तपस्वी । पिता प्रदीप्ताग्निसमानतेजा न तच्छक्यमनृतं विप्र कर्तुम्,“तब यमराजने मुझसे कहा--“सौम्य! तुम मरे नहीं हो। तुम्हारे तपस्वी पिताने इतना ही कहा था कि तुम यमराजको देखो। विप्रवर! वे तुम्हारे पिता प्रजजलित अग्निके समान तेजस्वी हैं। उनकी बात झूठी नहीं की जा सकती
yamo 'bravīn māṁ na mṛto 'si saumya yamaṁ paśyety āha sa tvāṁ tapasvī | pitā pradīptāgnisamānatejā na tac chakyaṁ anṛtaṁ vipra kartum ||
Bhishma said: Yama spoke to me, “Gentle one, you are not dead. Your ascetic father only told you, ‘Go and see Yama.’ O brahmin, your father shines with the splendor of a blazing fire; it is not possible to make his word untrue.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes satya (truth) as a binding moral force: the word of a spiritually powerful, truthful ascetic cannot be rendered false. Dharma operates so that even seemingly grim statements are fulfilled without violating truth.
Yama addresses the speaker (as reported by Bhishma), clarifying that he is not actually dead; he has come to Yama because his ascetic father instructed him to 'see Yama.' Yama explains that the father’s fiery spiritual radiance makes his statement inviolable, so events unfold to honor that word.