Shloka 23
Rukmī’s Offer of Aid and Arjuna’s Refusal (रुक्मिप्रस्तावः—अर्जुनप्रत्याख्यानम्)
सेनापतिस्त्वहं राजन् समये नापरेण ते । भविष्यामि यथाकामं तन्मे श्रोतुमिहाहसि
senāpatis tv ahaṃ rājan samaye nāpareṇa te | bhaviṣyāmi yathākāmaṃ tan me śrotum ihārhasi ||
Bhīṣma said: “O King, I will serve as your commander-in-chief at the appointed time, and not under any other condition. I shall do so according to my own choice; therefore you ought to hear from me, here and now, what that condition is.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, authority and service are bounded by ethical self-restraint: Bhīṣma accepts command only with a clearly stated condition, showing that duty (seva) must align with one’s vowed principles and conscience.
Bhīṣma addresses the king and agrees to become commander-in-chief at the proper time, but insists that he will do so only on his own stipulated condition and asks the king to hear that condition immediately.