Shloka 37
अम्बोपाख्याने तापसानां विचारः तथा होत्रवाहनस्य उपदेशः
Ambā among ascetics; Hotravāhana directs her to Paraśurāma
आचख्यौ च यथावृत्तं सर्वमात्मनि भारत | विस्तरेण महाबाहो निखिलेन शुचिस्मिता । हरणं च विसर्ग च शाल्वेन च विसर्जनम्,महाबाहु भरतनन्दन! पवित्र मुसकानवाली अम्बाने अपने ऊपर बीता हुआ सारा वत्तान्त विस्तारपूर्वक उन महात्माओंसे बताया। किस प्रकार उसका अपहरण हुआ? कैसे भीष्मसे छुटकारा मिला? और फिर किस प्रकार शाल्वने उसे त्याग दिया, ये सारी बातें उसने कह सुनायीं
ācakhyau ca yathāvṛttaṃ sarvam ātmani bhārata | vistareṇa mahābāho nikhilena śucismitā || haraṇaṃ ca visargaṃ ca śālvena ca visarjanam ||
Bhīṣma said: “O Bhārata, the pure-smiling lady related to those great ones, in full and in detail, everything that had happened to her—how she was carried off, how she was released, and how Śālva in turn abandoned her.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds moral accountability through truthful narration: a person wronged (Ambā) lays out the full sequence of actions—abduction, release, and rejection—so that responsibility and dharma can be judged on complete facts rather than rumor or partiality.
Bhīṣma reports that Ambā told the assembled elders her entire personal history in detail—how she was taken away, how she obtained release, and how Śālva ultimately abandoned her—setting the stage for the ethical and political consequences that follow.