Shloka 35
स्वच्छन्दमरणं दत्तमवध्यत्वं रणे तथा । तस्मान्मृत्युमहं मन्ये प्राप्तकालमिवात्मन:,अताडयन् रणे भीष्मं सहिता: सर्वसृञज्जया: । समस्त सूंजय वीर एक साथ संगठित हो भयंकर शतघ्नी, परिघ, फरसे, मुद्गर, मुसल, प्रास, गोफन, स्वर्णमय पंखवाले बाण, शक्ति, तोमर, कम्पन, नाराच, वत्सदन््त और भुशुण्डी आदि अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंद्वारा रणभूमिमें भीष्मको सब ओरसे पीड़ा देने लगे 'पूर्वकालमें जब मैंने माता सत्यवतीका विवाह पिताजीके साथ कराया था, उस समय मेरे पिताने संतुष्ट होकर मुझे दो वर दिये थे--“जब तुम्हारी इच्छा होगी, तभी तुम मरोगे तथा युद्धमें कोई भी तुम्हें मार न सकेगा।' ऐसी दशामें मुझे स्वेच्छासे ही मृत्यु स्वीकार कर लेनी चाहिये। मैं समझता हूँ कि अब उसका अवसर आ गया है'
sañjaya uvāca |
svacchandamaraṇaṁ dattam avadhyatvaṁ raṇe tathā |
tasmān mṛtyum ahaṁ manye prāptakālam ivātmanaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “To him was granted death at his own will, and also invincibility in battle. Therefore I deem that for him the time of death has now arrived, as it were, for his own self.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when protected by extraordinary boons, a warrior’s end is ultimately governed by kāla (the ripening of time) and by inner resolve; true agency here is not domination over events, but the ethical acceptance of the right moment—especially when one’s continued survival no longer serves dharma.
Sañjaya reports that Bhīṣma possesses two famed boons—death at will and invulnerability in battle—and concludes that, amid the intensifying assault, Bhīṣma himself now recognizes the due time to accept death voluntarily rather than be ‘killed’ by others.