Shloka 83
अधर्मेण हतः पार्थ तस्यैषा निष्कृति: कृता । “महाबाहु धनंजय! आप मेरी कही हुई सारी बातें ध्यान देकर सुनिये। पार्थ! महाभारत- युद्धमें आपने जो शान्तनुकुमार महाराज भीष्मको अधर्मपूर्वक मारा है, उस पापका यह प्रायश्चित्त कर दिया गया
adharmeṇa hataḥ pārtha tasyaivaiṣā niṣkṛtiḥ kṛtā |
‘O Partha, he was slain through adharma; therefore this act of expiation has been performed for that deed.’
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a dharma-yuddha, actions perceived as adharma create moral residue; therefore one must acknowledge fault and undertake niṣkṛti (expiation) to restore ethical balance and inner integrity.
Arjuna is addressed as Pārtha and reminded that the slaying occurred ‘by adharma’; the speaker states that an expiatory act has been carried out to atone for that transgression—implicitly referring to the controversial circumstances surrounding Bhīṣma’s fall in the Kurukṣetra war.