Shloka 81

Devanagari script

जब मैं एक बार अपने पदसे भ्रष्ट और अपमानित हो गया, तब पुनः: आप मुझपर कैसे विश्वास कर सकेंगे? अथवा मैं ही कैसे आपके पास रह सकूँगा? ।। समर्थ इति संगृहा स्थापयित्वा परीक्षित: । कृतं च समयं भित्त्वा त्वयाहमवमानितः,“आपने योग्य समझकर मुझे अपनाया और मन्त्रीके पदपर बिठाकर मेरी परीक्षा ली। इसके बाद अपनी की हुई प्रतिज्ञाको तोड़कर मेरा अपमान किया

Transliteration

yadāhaṁ ekavāraṁ svapadāt bhraṣṭaḥ apamānitaś ca abhavam, tadā punaḥ kathaṁ bhavān mayi viśvāsaṁ kariṣyati? athavā aham eva kathaṁ tava samīpe sthātuṁ śakṣyāmi? samartha iti saṅgṛhya sthāpayitvā parīkṣitaḥ; kṛtaṁ ca samayaṁ bhittvā tvayāham avamānitaḥ.

Translation

Bhishma berkata: “Ketika sekali aku telah disingkirkan dari jabatanku dan dipermalukan di hadapan umum, bagaimana mungkin engkau akan mempercayaiku lagi? Dan bagaimana mungkin aku sendiri tetap tinggal di hadapanmu? Engkau menerimaku sebagai ‘mampu’, menempatkanku dalam jabatan dan mengujiku; namun setelah itu engkau melanggar perjanjian yang engkau buat dan menghinakanku.”

Word by Word

समर्थःcompetent, fit

इतिthus (quotative)

संगृह्यhaving accepted / having taken (as)

स्थापयित्वाhaving appointed / having placed

परीक्षितःtested, examined

कृतम्made, done

चand

समयम्agreement, promise, compact

भित्त्वाhaving broken

त्वयाby you

अहम्me / I

अवमानितःinsulted, dishonoured

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Trust in governance depends on keeping one’s pledged word and preserving the dignity of those appointed to office; once an agreement is broken and a person is publicly dishonoured, the moral basis for continued service and mutual confidence is damaged.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma voices the ethical and practical consequences of being dismissed and insulted after being appointed and tested: he questions how the other party can trust him again, and how he can remain near them, since the prior compact has been violated.