Shloka 16

Bhīṣma–Śiśupāla-saṃvādaḥ

Bhishma and Shishupala’s exchange in the assembly

Devanagari script

गोघ्नः स्त्रीघ्नश्व सन्‌ भीष्म त्वद्वाक्याद्‌ यदि पूज्यते । एवंभूतश्न यो भीष्म कथं संस्तवमहति,भीष्म! यदि तुम्हारे कहनेसे गोघाती और स्त्रीहन्ता होते हुए भी इस कृष्णकी पूजा हो रही है तो तुम्हारी धर्मज्ञताकी हद हो गयी। तुम्हीं बताओ, जो इन दोनों ही प्रकारकी हत्याओंका अपराधी है, वह स्तुतिका अधिकारी कैसे हो सकता है?

Transliteration

goghnaḥ strīghnaś ca san bhīṣma tvadvākyād yadi pūjyate | evaṁbhūtaś ca yo bhīṣma kathaṁ saṁstavam arhati ||

Translation

ശിശുപാലൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഭീഷ്മാ! നിന്റെ വാക്കിന്റെ ബലത്തിൽ ഗോഹന്താവും സ്ത്രീഹന്താവും ആയിട്ടും ഈ കൃഷ്ണൻ പൂജിക്കപ്പെടുന്നുവെങ്കിൽ, നിന്റെ ധർമ്മവിവേകത്തിന്റെ അതിരെത്തി. പറയൂ ഭീഷ്മാ—ഇത്തരം കുറ്റഭാരം വഹിക്കുന്നവൻ എങ്ങനെ സ്തുതിക്കർഹനാകും?

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'goghnaḥ', 'definition': 'cow-slayer

• one who kills cows (a grave transgression in dharma discourse)'}, {'term': 'strīghnaḥ', 'definition': 'woman-slayer

• one who kills women (a severe ethical violation)'}, {'term': 'ca', 'definition': 'and'}, {'term': 'san', 'definition': 'being

• though being (present participle of √as, ‘to be’)'}, {'term': 'bhīṣma', 'definition': 'Bhīṣma

• elder of the Kuru line, revered authority on dharma'}, {'term': 'tvad-vākyāt', 'definition': 'because of your statement/word

• on your authority (ablative)'}, {'term': 'yadi', 'definition': 'if'}, {'term': 'pūjyate', 'definition': 'is worshiped/honored'}, {'term': 'evaṁ-bhūtaḥ', 'definition': 'such as this

• of such a kind'}, {'term': 'yaḥ', 'definition': 'who

• the one who'}, {'term': 'katham', 'definition': 'how?'}, {'term': 'saṁstavam', 'definition': 'praise, eulogy, commendation'}, {'term': 'arhati', 'definition': 'deserves

Speaker

शिशुपाल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śiśupāla
• Bhīṣma
• Kṛṣṇa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse dramatizes a dharma-debate: public honor should align with moral worth, and accusations of grave wrongdoing are used to challenge the legitimacy of praise and the authority of those endorsing it.

What is happening in the narrative?

During the assembly context surrounding royal honors, Śiśupāla attacks Bhīṣma’s endorsement of honoring Kṛṣṇa, alleging that Kṛṣṇa is guilty of heinous acts and therefore unfit for worship or eulogy.