Shloka 41

Devanagari script

क्षत्रियं तूग्रकर्माणं त्वं भद्रे जनयिष्यसि । नहि ते तत्‌ कृतं साधु मातृस्नेहेन भाविनि,'शुभे! तुमने और तुम्हारी माताने अदला-बदली कर ली है, इसलिये तुम्हारी माता श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मणपुत्रको जन्म देगी और भटद्रे! तुम भयंकर कर्म करनेवाले क्षत्रियकी जननी होओगी। भाविनि! माताके स्नेहमें पड़कर तुमने यह अच्छा काम नहीं किया”

Transliteration

kṣatriyaṃ tūgrakarmāṇaṃ tvaṃ bhadre janayiṣyasi | nahi te tat kṛtaṃ sādhu mātṛsnehena bhāvini ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ ശുഭേ! നീ ഉഗ്രകർമ്മനായ ഒരു ക്ഷത്രിയനെ പ്രസവിക്കും. ഭാവിനി, മാതൃസ്നേഹത്തിന്റെ ആസക്തിയിൽ നീ ചെയ്തതു പ്രശംസനീയമല്ല. നീയും നിന്റെ മാതാവും നടത്തിയ കൈമാറ്റം മൂലം നിന്റെ മാതാവ് ബ്രാഹ്മണഭാഗ്യത്തിന് നിയതമായ ഉത്തമപുത്രനെ പ്രസവിക്കും; നീ ഭയങ്കരകർമ്മങ്ങളുള്ള യോദ്ധാവിന്റെ ജനനിയാകും.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'kṣatriyam', 'definition': 'a Kshatriya

• member of the warrior-ruler class'}, {'term': 'ugra-karmāṇam', 'definition': 'one whose deeds are fierce/terrible

• of violent or formidable actions'}, {'term': 'bhadre', 'definition': 'O good/auspicious lady (vocative of address)'}, {'term': 'janayiṣyasi', 'definition': 'you will beget/give birth to'}, {'term': 'nahi', 'definition': 'indeed not

• certainly not'}, {'term': 'tat', 'definition': 'that (act/thing just mentioned)'}, {'term': 'kṛtam', 'definition': 'done

• performed'}, {'term': 'sādhu', 'definition': 'good, proper, commendable'}, {'term': 'mātṛ-snehena', 'definition': 'through/owing to affection for one’s mother

• maternal attachment'}, {'term': 'bhāvini', 'definition': 'O future one

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma criticizes an action motivated by excessive attachment (mātṛ-sneha), stressing that emotional partiality can lead to ethically improper choices and far-reaching consequences, including the shaping of future outcomes (offspring and destiny).

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses a woman and foretells the result of a mother–daughter exchange: the mother will bear a son suited to Brahmin excellence, while the daughter will bear a fierce Kshatriya. He judges the exchange as not proper because it was driven by maternal affection rather than right discernment.