Shloka 21
“सुन्दर अंगोंवाली महारानी! तुम शिखण्डीके विषयमें भय मत करो। मैं दया करके वही कार्य करूँगा, जो वस्तुतः हितकारक होगा, मैं स्वयं पुत्रधर्मसे वंचित हो गया हूँ ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | sundarāṅgāvali mahārāṇi! tvaṁ śikhaṇḍi-viṣaye bhayaṁ mā kṛthāḥ | ahaṁ dayāṁ kṛtvā tad eva karma kariṣyāmi yad vastutaḥ hitakaraṁ bhaviṣyati | ahaṁ svayaṁ putra-dharmena vañcitaḥ | mayā dāśārṇako rājā vañcitaḥ sa mahīpatiḥ | tad ācakṣva mahābhāge vidhāsyē tatra yad dhitam ||
ビーシュマは言った。「ああ、麗しき肢体を備えた王妃よ。シカンディーのことで恐れるな。憐れみゆえに、われは真に益となる行いのみをなそう。われ自身、子を得るダルマを奪われた者であり、またダシャールナの王—大地の主—をも損なわせた。ゆえに、幸いなる淑女よ、この件において正しく益ある道とそなたが思うところを告げよ。われはそれを遂行する。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma frames action as guided by hita (true welfare) and dayā (compassion), not by fear. He also acknowledges moral burden from past choices—being deprived of putra-dharma and having deprived another king—implying that ethical counsel must reckon with consequences and aim at the most beneficial resolution.
In Udyoga Parva, Bhishma addresses a queen who is anxious about the situation involving Shikhandi. Bhishma reassures her, promises to act for genuine welfare, recalls earlier events involving the Dasharna king (identified in the given gloss as Hiraṇyavarman), and asks her to state what she deems beneficial so he can implement it.