Shloka 14
अफक्रान्तो मनुष्येभ्य: शरशय्यां गतो हाहम् । प्रतीक्षमाणस्तिष्ठामि निवृत्ति शशिसूर्ययो:
sañjaya uvāca | akrānto manuṣyebhyaḥ śaraśayyāṃ gato hāham | pratīkṣamāṇas tiṣṭhāmi nivṛttiṃ śaśisūryayoḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : « Je me suis retiré du monde des hommes ; hélas, je suis venu m’étendre sur un lit de flèches. Pourtant je demeure ici, attendant le tournant de la lune et du soleil. »
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined renunciation and adherence to dharma: even in extreme suffering, Bhīṣma rejects worldly enjoyments and waits for the proper cosmic time to depart, showing self-control and principled resolve rather than impulsive escape or attachment.
After being felled in battle and lying on a bed of arrows, Bhīṣma speaks (as reported by Sañjaya). He declares he has withdrawn from human pleasures and is remaining alive only to await the ‘turning’ of the sun and moon—i.e., the auspicious shift in celestial course associated with his chosen time of death.