Shloka 20
तेनैवमुक्तस्तमहं प्रत्यवोचं प्राप्तोडस्मि ते विषयं दुर्निवर्त्यम् । इच्छाम्यहं पुण्यकृतां समृद्धान् लोकान द्रष्ठ॑ यदि ते5हं वराह:,“उनके ऐसा कहनेपर मैंने इस प्रकार उत्तर दिया--“भगवन्! मैं आपके उस राज्यमें आ गया हूँ, जहाँसे लौटकर जाना अत्यन्त कठिन है। यदि मैं आपकी दृष्टिमें वर पानेके योग्य होऊँ तो पुण्यात्मा पुरुषोंको मिलनेवाले समृद्धिशाली लोकोंका मैं दर्शन करना चाहता हूँ!
tenaivam uktas tam ahaṃ pratyavocaṃ prāpto 'smi te viṣayaṃ durnivartyam | icchāmy ahaṃ puṇyakṛtāṃ samṛddhān lokān draṣṭuṃ yadi te 'haṃ varārhaḥ ||
When he spoke to me in this way, I replied: “Blessed Lord, I have entered your domain, from which return is exceedingly difficult. If, in your sight, I am worthy to receive a boon, I wish to behold the prosperous worlds attained by those who have performed meritorious deeds.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights aspiration guided by dharma: one seeks not power or revenge but the vision of the higher realms earned through puṇya (meritorious conduct), implying that ethical action has enduring consequences beyond this life.
Bhishma reports his own response in a dialogue: having entered a formidable, hard-to-return realm of a divine or powerful being, he requests—if deemed worthy of a boon—to see the prosperous worlds attained by virtuous, merit-performing persons.