Shloka 31
अम्बोपाख्याने तापसानां विचारः तथा होत्रवाहनस्य उपदेशः
Ambā among ascetics; Hotravāhana directs her to Paraśurāma
धिग् भीष्म घधिक् च मे मन्दं पितरं मूढचेतसम् । येनाहं वीर्यशुल्केन पण्यस्त्रीव प्रचोदिता,“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
dhig bhīṣma gadhik ca me mandaṁ pitaraṁ mūḍhacetasaṁ | yenāhaṁ vīryaśulkena paṇyastrīva pracoditā ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «¡Vergüenza para Bhīṣma—y vergüenza también para mi padre, torpe de mente y falto de discernimiento! Por su causa—porque fijó el ‘valor’ como precio—fui empujado a salir como una mujer en venta, expuesto ante el público».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns treating a woman’s marriage as a public contest priced by ‘valor’ and critiques the moral failure of guardianship: when elders commodify a person for political or martial gain, the resulting dishonor and suffering become an ethical stain on both the agent and the authority who sanctioned it.
Bhīṣma voices intense self-blame and also blames his father for having set a ‘bride-price’ based on prowess, which led to a situation where a woman was compelled into a humiliating, public, quasi-commercial exposure—like merchandise—triggering later conflict and grievance central to the epic’s tensions.