Shloka 23
अम्बा-शाल्वसंवादः | Amba’s Appeal to Śālva and His Refusal
एकैकेन हि बाणेन भूमौ पातितवानहम् । हयांस्तेषां गजांश्रैव सारथींक्षाप्पहं रणे,ततोऊहं ताश्न कन्या वै भ्रातुरर्थाय भारत | तच्च कर्म महाबाहो सत्यवत्यै न््यवेदयम् महाबाहु भरतनन्दन! फिर मैंने उन कन्याओंको अपने भाईसे ब्याहनेके लिये माता सत्यवतीको सौंप दिया और अपना वह पराक्रम भी उन्हें बताया
ekaikena hi bāṇena bhūmau pātitavān aham | hayāṁs teṣāṁ gajāṁś caiva sārathīṁś cāpy ahaṁ raṇe | tato ’haṁ tāḥ striyaḥ kanyā vai bhrātur arthāya bhārata | tac ca karma mahābāho satyavatyai nyavedayam ||
Bhīṣma dit : «D’une flèche unique, l’un après l’autre, je les jetai à terre dans la bataille — leurs chevaux, leurs éléphants, et même leurs cochers. Puis, ô Bharata, pour l’intérêt de mon frère, j’amenai ces jeunes filles. Et, ô aux bras puissants, je rapportai cet acte à Satyavatī.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds Bhishma’s sense of dynastic and familial duty: he uses martial prowess to secure a political-marital objective for his brother and then acts with accountability by reporting his actions to the family elder, Satyavati—linking power with responsibility within dharma.
Bhishma recounts how, in battle, he overpowered opponents by felling horses, elephants, and charioteers with precise arrows; afterward he brought the maidens intended for his brother’s marriage and informed Satyavati of what he had done.