Shloka 3

Devanagari script

'प्रियतम! आपने कभी मेरा अप्रिय किया हो, इसका मुझे स्मरण नहीं है। सारी स्त्रियाँ अनेक पुत्रोंसे युक्त होनेपर भी पतिहीन होनेपर शोकमें डूब जाती हैं ।। शोच्या भवति बन्धूनां पतिहीना तपस्विनी । लालिताहं त्वया नित्यं बहुमानाच्च पूजिता,“पतिहीन तपस्विनी नारी अपने भाई-बन्धुओंके लिये भी शोचनीय बन जाती है। आपने सदा ही मेरा लाड-प्यार किया और बड़े सम्मानके साथ मुझे आदरपूर्वक रक्‍्खा

Transliteration

priyatama! āpane kadācid mama apriyaṃ kṛtaṃ syāt, iti me smaraṇaṃ na asti. sarvāḥ striyaḥ aneka-putra-yuktā api pati-hīnāḥ satyaḥ śoke nimagnā bhavanti. śocyā bhavati bandhūnāṃ pati-hīnā tapasvinī. lālitāhaṃ tvayā nityaṃ bahu-mānāc ca pūjitā.

Translation

Bhishma berkata: “Wahai kekasih, aku tak ingat engkau pernah berbuat sesuatu yang menyakitkan hatiku. Sekalipun seorang perempuan memiliki banyak putra, bila ia tanpa suami, ia tenggelam dalam duka. Seorang perempuan tapa yang kehilangan suami menjadi bahan iba bahkan bagi kaum kerabatnya sendiri. Engkau senantiasa memanjakanku, dan karena hormat yang dalam engkau memuliakanku serta menjagaku dengan penghormatan yang semestinya.”

Word by Word

शोच्याpitiable, to be lamented

भवतिbecomes

बन्धूनाम्of (her) kinsmen/relatives

पतिहीनाhusbandless

तपस्विनीascetic woman

लालिताहम्I (f.) have been cherished/caressed

अहम्I

त्वयाby you

नित्यम्always

बहुमानात्out of respect / from esteem

चand

पूजिताhonored, revered

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a social-ethical observation: the absence of a husband is portrayed as a profound source of vulnerability and grief for a woman, regardless of having sons, and it stresses the duty of relatives to treat her with honor and care rather than letting her become ‘pitiable’ in the family sphere.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses a ‘beloved’ person, affirming that he remembers no offense from them, and then frames the emotional and social condition of a husbandless woman—pitiable even among kin—before acknowledging that the addressee has consistently cherished and honored him.