Shloka 3
Gṛdhra–Jambuka Saṃvāda (Dialogue of the Vulture and the Jackal) — On Grief, Kāla, and Resolve
'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 ।।
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.
ビーシュマは言った。「愛しき者よ、そなたがかつて我に不快を与えたことがあるとは、思い出せぬ。女はたとえ多くの息子を得ても、夫を失えば悲嘆に沈む。夫なき苦行の女は、己が親族にさえ憐れみの的となる。そなたは常に我を慈しみ、深い敬意をもって我を敬い、しかるべき恭敬のうちに守ってくれたのだ。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.