Shloka 23
अम्बा-शाल्वसंवादः | Amba’s Appeal to Śālva and His Refusal
एकैकेन हि बाणेन भूमौ पातितवानहम् । हयांस्तेषां गजांश्रैव सारथींक्षाप्पहं रणे
ekaikena hi bāṇena bhūmau pātitavān aham | hayāṁs teṣāṁ gajāṁś caiva sārathīṁś cāpy ahaṁ raṇe | tato ’haṁ tāḥ striyaḥ kanyā vai bhrātur arthāya bhārata | tac ca karma mahābāho satyavatyai nyavedayam ||
ビーシュマは言った。「私は一本の矢ごとに、戦いの中で彼らを地に伏せさせた――馬も象も、御者でさえも。ついで、バーラタよ、兄弟のためにその姫君たちを連れ帰った。そして、剛腕の者よ、その所業をサティヤヴァティーに報告した。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds Bhishma’s sense of dynastic and familial duty: he uses martial prowess to secure a political-marital objective for his brother and then acts with accountability by reporting his actions to the family elder, Satyavati—linking power with responsibility within dharma.
Bhishma recounts how, in battle, he overpowered opponents by felling horses, elephants, and charioteers with precise arrows; afterward he brought the maidens intended for his brother’s marriage and informed Satyavati of what he had done.