Shloka 96
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय 54: फल्गुन-प्रतिरोधः, सौबली-व्यूह-विध्वंसः, दुर्योधन-भीष्म-संवादः
न त्वेतान् पृथिवीपालान दातुं भीष्माय मृत्यवे । 4वार्ष्णेय! अब मैं वनको चला जाऊँगा। वहीं जीवन बिताना मेरे लिये कल्याणकारी होगा। इन भूपालोंको व्यर्थ ही भीष्मरूपी मृत्युको सौंप देनेमें कोई भलाई नहीं है
na tv etān pṛthivīpālān dātuṁ bhīṣmāya mṛtyave | vārṣṇeya! ahaṁ vanaṁ gamiṣyāmi | tatraiva jīvanaṁ me kalyāṇakaraṁ bhaviṣyati | ime bhūpālā vyarthaṁ bhīṣma-rūpiṇe mṛtyave samarpayituṁ na śreyasī ||
Sañjaya said: “But I will not hand these kings of the earth over to Bhīṣma as to Death itself. O Vārṣṇeya, I shall go to the forest; to live out my life there will be for my good. There is no true benefit in uselessly consigning these rulers to a death that has taken the form of Bhīṣma.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical refusal to participate in futile slaughter: when an action only delivers others into certain death without dharmic gain, withdrawal and a life of restraint (symbolized by going to the forest) is presented as the wiser course.
Sañjaya voices a resolve not to consign allied kings to destruction by Bhīṣma—depicted as Death incarnate on the battlefield—and declares an intention to retire to the forest, judging that course more beneficial than continuing a hopeless, wasteful commitment to war.