Shloka 4

Devanagari script

न खल्वस्यकृतार्थेन स्त्रीबुद्धया मार्दवीकृता । मद्वियोगेन सुश्रोणि विमुक्ता धर्मसेतुना,'सुन्दरि! मेरे वियोगने तुम्हें शिथिल तो नहीं कर दिया था? तुम्हारी स्त्री-बुद्धिके कारण कहीं धर्मकी मर्यादा असफल या अरक्षित तो नहीं रह गयी और उसके कारण तुम धर्म- पालनसे विमुख या दूर तो नहीं हो गयी?

Transliteration

na khalv asyakṛtārthena strībuddhyā mārdavīkṛtā | madviyogena suśroṇi vimuktā dharmasetunā ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «Assurément, tu ne t’es pas amollie jusqu’à l’impuissance sous l’effet des hésitations d’un jugement de femme, n’est-ce pas ? Ô toi aux belles hanches, la séparation d’avec moi t’a-t-elle fait glisser hors du pont du dharma—laissant sans garde la frontière de la droiture—au point de te détourner du chemin du devoir ?»

Word by Word

नnot

खलुindeed, surely

अस्यof this (person/thing)

अकृतार्थेनby/with one who is unsuccessful (unfulfilled)

स्त्रीबुद्धयाby feminine-mindedness / by a woman's understanding

मार्दवीकृताmade soft/weak; enfeebled

मद्वियोगेनby separation from me

सुश्रोणिO fair-hipped one

विमुक्ताreleased, loosened; turned away

धर्मसेतुनाby the bridge/boundary of dharma (moral restraint)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma (भीष्म)

suśroṇī (सुश्रोणि, an addressed woman—unnamed in this pāda)

dharma (धर्म)

dharma-setu (धर्मसेतु, ‘bridge/embankment of dharma’ as an ethical metaphor)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses guarding the ‘dharma-setu’—the moral boundary that keeps one steady in duty—especially during emotional upheaval like separation. Ethical life is portrayed as something to be protected from inner softness, confusion, or wavering resolve.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses a woman (called ‘suśroṇī’) and questions whether his absence has weakened her resolve, causing her to fall away from dharma. The speech uses the metaphor of dharma as a bridge/embankment that must not be abandoned or left unprotected.