Shloka 22

Devanagari script

अशक्तः पूर्वमासीस्त्वं कथज्चिच्छक्ततां गत: । कस्त्वदन्य इमां वाचं सुक्रूरां वक्तुमहीति,किंतु पहले तुममें ऐसा करनेकी शक्ति नहीं थी। अब किसी तरह शक्ति आ गयी है। तुम्हारे सिवा दूसरा कौन ऐसा अत्यन्त क्िरूर वचन कह सकता है?

Transliteration

aśaktaḥ pūrvam āsīs tvaṃ kathaṃcic chaktatāṃ gataḥ | kas tvad anya imāṃ vācaṃ sukrūrāṃ vaktum arhati ||

Translation

Dahulu engkau tak berdaya; kini entah bagaimana engkau sampai pada kekuatan. Siapa selain engkau yang pantas mengucapkan kata-kata sekejam ini?

Word by Word

अशक्तःunable, powerless

पूर्वम्formerly, earlier

आसीःyou were

त्वम्you

कथंचित्somehow, by some means

शक्तताम्ability, power

गतःhas gone/attained

कःwho?

त्वत्than you, from you

अन्यःanother (person)

इमाम्this

वाचम्speech, words

सु-क्रूराम्very cruel

वक्तुम्to speak

अर्हतिis fit/able (to), can

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse censures cruelty in speech: gaining power should not become a license for harsh, wounding words. Ethical restraint (especially in speech) is presented as a mark of dharma, while verbal cruelty is morally blameworthy.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma rebukes the addressee for a sudden change from earlier helplessness to present boldness, and he condemns the person’s utterance as exceptionally cruel—implying that such speech reflects a flawed character rather than true strength.