Shloka 9
अम्बोपाख्याने तापसानां विचारः तथा होत्रवाहनस्य उपदेशः
Ambā among ascetics; Hotravāhana directs her to Paraśurāma
नारीं विदितविज्ञान: परेषां धर्ममादिशन् । यथेष्टं गम्यतां भद्ठे मा त्वां कालो5त्यगादयम्,“वरवर्णिनि! जो पहले औरकी हो चुकी हो, ऐसी स्त्रीको मैं अपनी पत्नी बनाऊँ, यह मेरी इच्छा नहीं है। जिस नारीपर पहले किसी दूसरे पुरुषका अधिकार हो गया हो, उसे सारी बातोंको ठीक-ठीक जाननेवाला मेरे-जैसा राजा जो दूसरोंको धर्मका उपदेश करता है, कैसे अपने घरमें प्रविष्ट करायेगा। भद्रे! तुम्हारी जहाँ इच्छा हो, चली जाओ। तुम्हारा यह समय यहाँ व्यर्थ न बीते”
nārīṁ viditavijñānaḥ pareṣāṁ dharmam ādiśan | yatheṣṭaṁ gamyatāṁ bhadre mā tvāṁ kālo 'tyagād ayam ||
Bhishma said: “Knowing what is right and wrong, and being one who instructs others in dharma, how could I bring into my household a woman who has already belonged to another? Such a choice is not my wish. O noble lady, go wherever you desire; do not let this time pass fruitlessly for you.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler who teaches dharma must also embody social-ethical restraint in private life; Bhishma frames his refusal as consistency between public moral instruction and personal conduct, emphasizing integrity and propriety.
Bhishma addresses a woman who has previously been claimed by another man and declines to accept her as his wife, advising her to go wherever she wishes so that her time and prospects are not wasted.