Shloka 24
क्व च युद्ध विमर्दो वा मन्त्रे सुव्याहृतानि च । क्व च भीष्मो गतवया मन्दात्मा कालचोदित:,“कहाँ युद्ध, मारकाट और गुप्त मन्त्रणामें अच्छी बातें बतानेका कार्य और कहाँ कालप्रेरित मन्दबुद्धि भीष्म, जिनकी आयु समाप्त हो चुकी है
kva ca yuddha-vimardo vā mantre suvyāhṛtāni ca | kva ca bhīṣmo gatavayā mandātmā kāla-coditaḥ ||
“Where is the business of war—its crushing clashes—and where is the task of speaking well in secret counsel? And where am I, Bhīṣma—my span of life already spent—of dulled resolve, driven onward by Time?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma highlights the mismatch between the ideal demands of war and wise counsel—clarity, strength, and timely speech—and his own condition as an aged man compelled by Kāla. The verse underscores humility and the ethical awareness that even great elders can be constrained by circumstance and time.
In the tense lead-up to the Kurukṣetra war (Udyoga Parva), Bhīṣma speaks reflectively, contrasting the fierce arena of battle and the need for sound strategic counsel with his own aged, time-driven state, implying reluctance and a sense of tragic compulsion.