Shloka 55
पापात्म-धर्मात्म-लक्षणम् तथा निर्वेदेन मोक्षमार्गः | Marks of the Sinful and the Righteous; Dispassion (Nirveda) as a Path to Liberation
त्राहि मां मातरं चैव तपो यच्चार्जितं मया । आत्मानं पातकेभ्यश्व भवाद्य चिरकारिक:,“बेटा! आज विलम्ब करके तू वास्तवमें चिरकारी बन और मेरी, अपनी माताकी तथा मैंने जो तपका उपार्जन किया है, उसकी भी रक्षा कर। साथ ही अपने-आपको भी पातकोंसे बचा ले
trāhi māṃ mātaraṃ caiva tapo yac cārjitaṃ mayā | ātmānaṃ pātakebhyaś ca bhavādya cirakārikaḥ ||
Bhishma said: “Protect me—and protect your mother as well—and also safeguard the merit of austerities I have earned. And protect yourself from sin. Today, by delaying, truly become ‘Cirakārī’ (the one who acts after due reflection).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges restraint and moral caution: protect elders and family, preserve the spiritual merit earned through tapas, and above all avoid falling into pāpa (sin). It praises deliberate, reflective action over impulsive deeds—especially when an act could become ethically ruinous.
Bhishma, speaking as a moral instructor, addresses a ‘son’ and exhorts him to delay rash action and instead act with careful reflection. The appeal links immediate conduct to wider consequences: harm to oneself, one’s mother, and the accumulated merit of austerities.