Shloka 513
ब्राह्मणपूजा-राजधर्मः | Royal Duty of Honoring Learned Brahmins
अस्येदानीं वधादद्य भविष्याम्यनृण: पितु: । इतना ही नहीं
asyedānīṁ vadhād adya bhaviṣyāmy anṛṇaḥ pituḥ |
Bhishma berkata, “Dengan membunuhnya hari ini, akhirnya aku akan terbebas dari hutangku kepada ayahku. Bukan itu saja—putra-putranya telah menghancurkan seluruh kerajaan di wilayah Kashi dan menjarah timbunan permata yang tersimpan. Dalam kesombongan angkuh, seratus putra raja itu telah kubunuh; hanya mereka inilah yang tersisa. Jika sekarang mereka pun kubunuh, akankah aku lepas dari kewajibanku kepada ayahku?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames violence within the moral language of ṛṇa (obligation): Bhīṣma interprets his duty to his father as a binding debt that can be ‘discharged’ through decisive action. It highlights the tension between personal vows/filial duty and the ethical weight of killing, especially when justified as restoring order after plunder and arrogance.
Bhīṣma speaks about completing an act of retribution: after the king’s sons have ravaged Kāśī and looted treasures, he claims to have already killed a hundred of them, with only a few remaining. He considers killing the rest ‘today’ so that he may become anṛṇa—free of his debt to his father.