Shloka 14

Devanagari script

अफक्रान्तो मनुष्येभ्य: शरशय्यां गतो हाहम्‌ । प्रतीक्षमाणस्तिष्ठामि निवृत्ति शशिसूर्ययो:,उनके द्वारा लाये हुए उस जलको देखकर शान्तनुनन्दन भीष्मने कहा--'अब मैं मनुष्यलोकके कोई भी भोग अपने उपयोगमें नहीं ला सकता, मैं उन्हें छोड़ चुका हूँ। यद्यपि यहाँ बाणशय्यापर सो रहा हूँ, तथापि मनुष्यलोकसे ऊपर उठ चुका हूँ। केवल सूर्य- चन्द्रमाके उत्तरपथपर आनेकी प्रतीक्षामें यहाँ रुका हुआ हूँ!

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | akrānto manuṣyebhyaḥ śaraśayyāṃ gato hāham | pratīkṣamāṇas tiṣṭhāmi nivṛttiṃ śaśisūryayoḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「私は人の世から退いた。ああ、矢の床に至って横たわる身となった。だがなお私はここに留まり、月と太陽の転ずる時を待っている。」

Word by Word

अवक्रान्तःhaving stepped away/withdrawn (from)

मनुष्येभ्यःfrom men / from the human (world)

शरशय्याम्on the bed of arrows

गतःgone / having gone (to)

हाalas!

अहम्I

प्रतीक्षमाणःwaiting (for)

तिष्ठामिI stand / remain

निवृत्तिम्the turning back / (northward) return (course)

शशिसूर्ययोःof the moon and the sun

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīṣma (implied as the quoted speaker in narrative context)

śaraśayyā (bed of arrows)

śaśi (moon)

sūrya (sun)

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?

The verse highlights disciplined renunciation and adherence to dharma: even in extreme suffering, Bhīṣma rejects worldly enjoyments and waits for the proper cosmic time to depart, showing self-control and principled resolve rather than impulsive escape or attachment.

What is happening in the narrative?

After being felled in battle and lying on a bed of arrows, Bhīṣma speaks (as reported by Sañjaya). He declares he has withdrawn from human pleasures and is remaining alive only to await the ‘turning’ of the sun and moon—i.e., the auspicious shift in celestial course associated with his chosen time of death.