Shloka 51
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ११०: पार्थभीमयोः प्रहारः तथा भीष्माभिमुखं संग्रामविस्तारः
Arjuna and Bhima’s pressure; escalation toward Bhishma
त॑ं चेत् पितामहं वृद्ध हन्तुमिच्छामि माधव । पितु: पितरमिष्टं च धिगस्तु क्षत्रजीविकाम्
taṁ cet pitāmahaṁ vṛddha hantuṁ icchāmi mādhava | pituḥ pitaram iṣṭaṁ ca dhig astu kṣatrajīvikām, mādhava ||
“If I am resolved to kill that aged grandsire, O Mādhava—him who is my father’s father and also dearly cherished—then shame upon the very livelihood of a kṣatriya, O Mādhava. The ethics of war here turns inward: the duty to fight demands an act that feels like sacrilege against family reverence.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inner ethical rupture of war: even when duty demands fighting, the act of harming revered elders can feel morally contaminating, prompting a critique of 'kṣatriya livelihood' when it appears to require impiety toward family and teachers.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava), expressing anguish that the war compels him to seek the death of Bhīṣma—an aged, beloved grandsire—so he condemns the warrior’s profession that forces such a choice.