Shloka 10
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
भीष्म उवाच तत्त्वं शृणुष्व माद्रेय यदेतत् परिपृच्छसि । प्रबोधितो5स्मि भवता धातुमानिव पर्वत:
bhīṣma uvāca tattvaṃ śṛṇuṣva mādreya yad etat paripṛcchasi | prabodhito 'smi bhavatā dhātumān iva parvataḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Ô fils de Mādrī, écoute la vérité de ce que tu demandes. J’étais étendu là comme une montagne teinte de minerai rouge—baignée de sang et inerte ; mais par ta question tu m’as éveillé. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truth about dharma is best received through sincere inquiry: the disciple’s question itself can ‘awaken’ the teacher, even amid suffering, and becomes the doorway to ethical instruction.
Bhishma, grievously wounded and lying helpless after the war, addresses a son of Madri and says that the questioner’s inquiry has roused him; he now prepares to explain the essential truth being asked.