Shloka 4
भीष्म–रामसंयुगनिवृत्तिः
Bhishma and Rama: Restraint and Withdrawal in the Engagement
यत्कृते दुःखवसतिमिमां प्राप्तास्मि शाश्वतीम् । पतिलोकाद् विहीना च नैव स्त्री न पुमानिह
yatkṛte duḥkhavasatim imāṃ prāptāsmi śāśvatīm | patilokād vihīnā ca naiva strī na pumān iha |
「彼のために、私はこの尽きぬ苦しみの住処へ落ちた。夫の世界から断たれ、この世では、もはや真の女でも男でもない。ガンガーの子ビーマを戦場で討ち果たすまでは、私は苦行をやめない。苦行に富む方々よ、これが我が胸の誓いであり、私は明白に言い放った。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unresolved injustice can harden into a binding vow: personal suffering and social exclusion are transmuted into relentless resolve, raising ethical questions about whether vengeance and ascetic power should be directed toward destruction even when framed as a duty.
A wronged figure (contextually associated with Śikhaṇḍin/Amba’s enmity) declares to ascetics that, having lost the possibility of a normal conjugal life and social identity, they will continue severe austerities until Bhīṣma—Gaṅgā’s son—is slain in battle.