Shloka 32
भीष्मस्य सेनापत्यप्रतिज्ञा तथा रथसंख्यावर्णनम् | Bhishma Accepts Command and Enumerates Kaurava Strength
गृध्रोदरे वा वस्तव्यं पुरे वा नागसाह्वये । प्रतिज्ञातं मया तच्च सभामध्ये नराधम
sañjaya uvāca |
gṛdhrodare vā vastavyaṃ pure vā nāgasāhvaye |
pratijñātaṃ mayā tacca sabhāmadhye narādhama,
kartāha tad vacaḥ satyaṃ satyenaiva śapāmi te |
Sañjaya said: “O wretch among men! Either you must dwell in the belly of a vulture (i.e., be slain), or you must go and hide in the city called Nāgasāhvaya (Hastināpura). What I vowed in the midst of the assembly, that I shall surely make true. I swear this to you by truth itself: I will fulfill those words.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truth) as an ethical force: a public vow made in the sabhā is treated as binding, and the speaker frames its fulfillment as a matter of honor and moral certainty, even invoking an oath ‘by truth itself’ to underscore accountability.
Sañjaya reports a harsh ultimatum directed at a condemned opponent: either be killed (figuratively ‘live in a vulture’s belly’) or flee to and hide in Nāgasāhvaya (Hastināpura). The speaker insists that a prior pledge made publicly in the assembly will be carried out without fail.