Shloka 22
Rukmī’s Offer of Aid and Arjuna’s Refusal (रुक्मिप्रस्तावः—अर्जुनप्रत्याख्यानम्)
एवमेषां करिष्यामि निधनं कुरुनन्दन । न चेत् ते मां हनिष्यन्ति पूर्वमेव समागमे,परंतु जनेश्वर! मैं पाण्डुके पुत्रोंकी किसी तरह हत्या नहीं करूँगा। कुरुनन्दन! यदि पाण्डव इस युद्धमें मुझे पहले ही नहीं मार डालेंगे तो मैं अपने अस्त्रोंके प्रयोगद्वारा प्रतिदिन उनके पक्षके दस हजार योद्धाओंका वध करता रहूँगा, मैं इस प्रकार इनकी सेनाका संहार करूँगा
evam eṣāṁ kariṣyāmi nidhanaṁ kurunandana | na cet te māṁ haniṣyanti pūrvam eva samāgame ||
Bhishma said: “Thus will I bring about their destruction, O delight of the Kurus. Yet if they do not strike me down first in the very encounter, then by the use of my weapons I shall, day after day, continue to slay ten thousand warriors from their side. In this manner I will wear down and annihilate their host—while still refusing, out of principle, to kill the sons of Pāṇḍu.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, Bhīṣma frames violence within self-imposed ethical limits: he will fight fiercely and reduce the opposing army, yet he refuses to kill the sons of Pāṇḍu. The verse highlights dharma as disciplined action—power restrained by vow and principle.
Bhīṣma addresses Kurunandana (Duryodhana), declaring his battle plan: unless the Pāṇḍavas kill him first, he will daily slaughter vast numbers of their supporting warriors with his weapons, thereby destroying their forces—while sparing the Pāṇḍavas themselves.