Shloka 16
Adhyāya 55 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Hesitation and Bhīṣma’s Authorization of Inquiry
Rājadharma Prelude
तव प्रसादाद् गोविन्द भूतात्मा हासि शाश्वतः । वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन्! श्रीकृष्णकी बात सुनकर कुरुकुलका आनन्द बढ़ानेवाले महातेजस्वी भीष्मजीने कहा--“गोविन्द! आप सम्पूर्ण भूतोंके सनातन आत्मा हैं। आपके प्रसादसे मेरी वाक्शक्ति सुदृढ़ है और मन भी स्थिर हो गया है; अतः मैं समस्त धर्मोका प्रवचन करूँगा,समयत्यागिनो लुब्धान् गुरूनपि च केशव । निहन्ति समरे पापान् क्षत्रियो यः: स धर्मवित् केशव! जो क्षत्रिय लोभवश धर्ममर्यादाका उल्लंघन करनेवाले पापाचारी गुरुजनोंका भी समराड्रणमें वध कर डालता है, वह अवश्य ही धर्मका ज्ञाता है
tava prasādād govinda bhūtātmā hāsi śāśvataḥ | samatyāgino lubdhān gurūn api ca keśava | nihanti samare pāpān kṣatriyo yaḥ sa dharmavit ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Hearing Kṛṣṇa’s words, Bhīṣma—radiant and a source of joy to the Kuru line—spoke: “Govinda, you are the eternal Self of all beings. By your grace my speech has become firm and my mind steady; therefore I shall expound the whole of dharma. O Keśava, that kṣatriya who, in battle, strikes down even teachers when they have fallen into sin—having abandoned right conduct and become driven by greed—is truly a knower of dharma.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is not mere deference to status; a kṣatriya’s duty includes protecting moral order even when wrongdoing is committed by revered elders or teachers. When ‘gurus’ abandon dharma out of greed and become harmful, opposing them in battle can be framed as righteous—provided it is done as duty, not personal hatred.
Vaiśampāyana narrates Bhīṣma’s response after hearing Kṛṣṇa. Bhīṣma praises Kṛṣṇa as the eternal Self of all beings and credits him with stabilizing his speech and mind. He then begins a dharma-discourse, introducing a hard case in war-ethics: the legitimacy of fighting (even killing) sinful, dharma-abandoning elders/teachers when required by kṣatriya duty.