Shloka 49
काममभ्यस वा मा वा न मे जीवन प्रमोक्ष्यसे । सुदृष्ट: क्रियतां भीष्म लोको5यं समितिंजय,'युद्धविजयी भीष्मजी! आप मुझपर इच्छानुसार प्रहार कीजिये या न कीजिये; परंतु आज आप मेरे हाथसे जीवित नहीं छूट सकेंगे। अब इस संसारको अच्छी तरह देख लीजिये'
kāmam abhyasu vā mā vā na me jīvan pramokṣyase | sudṛṣṭaḥ kriyatāṁ bhīṣma loko 'yaṁ samitiṁjaya ||
Sañjaya said: “Strike me as you wish—or do not strike at all; yet you shall not escape me alive today. Look well upon this world, O Bhīṣma, conqueror in battle.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethic of unwavering resolve: one may accept death as the price of duty, and one’s speech becomes a vow that binds action on the battlefield.
A combatant addresses Bhīṣma directly, declaring that whether Bhīṣma strikes or refrains, he will not escape alive that day, and urging him to look upon the world—an intense challenge typical of battlefield exchanges.