Shloka 30
अम्बोपाख्याने तापसानां विचारः तथा होत्रवाहनस्य उपदेशः
Ambā among ascetics; Hotravāhana directs her to Paraśurāma
तस्येयं फलनिर्व त्तियदापन्नास्मि मूढवत्,“उसीका यह फल प्राप्त हुआ है कि मैं एक मूर्ख स्त्री-की भाँति भारी आपत्तिमें पड़ गयी हूँ। भीष्मको धिक््कार है, विवेकशून्य हृदयवाले मेरे मन्दबुद्धि पिताको भी धिक्कार है, जिन्होंने पराक्रमका शुल्क नियत करके मुझे बाजारू स्त्रीकी भाँति जनसमूहमें निकलनेकी आज्ञा दी
tasyeyaṃ phalanirvṛttir yadāpannāsmi mūḍhavat
This is the bitter outcome that has come to me: I have fallen into a grievous calamity like a deluded woman. Shame on Bhīṣma; and shame too on my dull-witted father, bereft of discernment, who fixed a ‘price’ of valor and ordered me to be brought out before the crowd like a woman for sale.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral accountability: when social codes treat a person as an object—setting a ‘price’ and displaying her before a crowd—the result is suffering and disgrace. It condemns thoughtless adherence to power and custom without compassion or discernment (viveka).
A woman (contextually, Amba in the Bhīṣma episode) laments her misfortune and denounces both Bhīṣma and her father. She frames her plight as the consequence of being treated like a commodity—her father’s decision to set a martial ‘bride-price’ and expose her publicly—leading to her calamity.