Shloka 23
भीष्मस्य सेनापत्यप्रतिज्ञा तथा रथसंख्यावर्णनम् | Bhishma Accepts Command and Enumerates Kaurava Strength
नद्वितीयां प्रतिज्ञां हि प्रतिजानामि कैतव । सत्यं॑ ब्रवीम्यहं होतत् सर्व सत्यं भविष्यति
na dvitīyāṁ pratijñāṁ hi pratijānāmi kaitava | satyaṁ bravīmy ahaṁ hotat sarvaṁ satyaṁ bhaviṣyati |
“O deceiver, I do not know how to make a pledge a second time. I speak the truth to you: all this will indeed come to pass as truth.” Thereafter Yudhiṣṭhira, too, addressed Ulūka—the son of the crafty gambler—saying, “Dear Ulūka, go to Duryodhana and convey this message of mine …”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of a vow made in truth: a righteous person does not repeatedly re-pledge for effect, but speaks once with integrity and stands by it. Truth (satya) is presented as performative and binding—what is spoken in righteousness is expected to become reality.
Sañjaya narrates a tense exchange in which a speaker rebukes a deceitful interlocutor and affirms that what has been declared will surely occur. Immediately after, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Ulūka (Śakuni’s son), instructing him to return to Duryodhana with a message—part of the charged diplomatic communications just before the outbreak of war.