Shloka 13
Chatra–Upānah Dāna: Origin Narrative
Jamadagni–Reṇukā–Sūrya Saṃvāda
पुरा प्रपश्यामि परेण मर्त्यान् बलीयसा दुर्बलान् भुज्यमानान् | तस्माद् यास्यामि परलोक॑ चिराय न हात्सहे द्रष्टमिह जीवलोकम्,“भविष्यकालमें बलवान मनुष्य दुर्बलोंको अपने उपभोगमें लायेंगे, इस बातको मैं अभीसे देख रहा हूँ। इसलिये मैं दीर्घकालके लिये परलोकमें चला जाऊँ। यहाँ रहकर इस जीवजगत्की ऐसी दुरवस्था मैं नहीं देख सकता”
purā prapaśyāmi pareṇa martyān balīyasā durbalān bhujyamānān | tasmād yāsyāmi paralokaṁ cirāya na hāt sahe draṣṭum iha jīvalokam ||
Bhishma said: “Even now I foresee that, in times to come, mortals who are stronger will subdue and exploit the weak. Therefore I shall depart to the other world for a long while; I cannot bear to remain here and witness such a wretched condition in the realm of the living.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns of a moral decline where the powerful exploit the weak, implying that strength without dharma becomes predation. It highlights an ethical imperative: power must be restrained by righteousness and compassion, otherwise society becomes unbearable for the virtuous.
Bhishma, speaking in the Anushasana Parva, expresses a grim foresight about future social conditions. Overwhelmed by the prospect of injustice, he declares his resolve to depart to the other world rather than remain to witness the suffering of the living.