Shloka 23
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 104 — कर्णोत्पत्ति, दानधर्म, वैकर्तन-नामकरण
Karna’s Birth, Gift-Ethic, and the Name Vaikartana
लालप्यमानां तामेवं कृपणां पुत्रगृद्धिनीम् धर्मादपेतं ब्रुवतीं भीष्मो भूयो5ब्रवीदिदम्,पुत्रकी कामनासे दीन वचन बोलनेवाली और मुखसे धर्मरहित बात कहनेवाली सत्यवतीसे भीष्मने फिर यह बात कही--
lālapyamānāṁ tāmevaṁ kṛpaṇāṁ putragṛddhinīm | dharmādapetaṁ bruvatīṁ bhīṣmo bhūyo ’bravīd idam ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: Cuando Satyavatī, llorando con desconsuelo y consumida por el anhelo de hijos, pronunciaba palabras apartadas del sendero del dharma, Bhīṣma se dirigió a ella una vez más, respondiendo con un recordatorio más firme de lo que exige la rectitud.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral contrast: intense personal desire (for heirs) can push one into speech and counsel that deviates from dharma, and the righteous elder (Bhīṣma) responds by reasserting ethical boundaries even amid grief and dynastic anxiety.
Satyavatī, distressed and yearning for sons to continue the lineage, speaks in a way characterized as outside dharma; Bhīṣma, hearing her lament, speaks again—continuing his counsel and attempting to steer the discussion back toward righteous conduct.