Shloka 36
अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः
Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning
एवं धर्म पालयिष्यस्यथो त्वं न चात्मानं मज्जयिष्यस्यधर्मे तस्मात् काम॑ रोचयाभ्यागतं त्वं संयोज्याथो संहरस्वेह जन्तून्
evaṃ dharma pālayiṣyasy atho tvaṃ na cātmānaṃ majjayiṣyasy adharme tasmāt kāmaṃ rocayābhyāgataṃ tvaṃ saṃyojyātho saṃharasveha jantūn
ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു— “ഇങ്ങനെ നീ ധർമ്മം പാലിക്കും; നിന്നെ അധർമ്മത്തിൽ മുങ്ങിക്കളയുകയില്ല. അതിനാൽ നിനക്കു ലഭിച്ച ഈ അധികാരം സന്തോഷത്തോടെ സ്വീകരിക്ക; കാമത്തെ ഈ കര്മ്മത്തിൽ ചേർത്ത് ഇവിടെ ജീവികളെ സംഹരിക്ക.”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a hard duty as dharma: one should accept rightful authority without falling into adharma, and even powerful impulses like kāma must be subordinated and directed toward the ordained task rather than allowed to lead to personal moral downfall.
Bhīṣma addresses a female addressee (as indicated by the Hindi gloss) and instructs her to accept an obtained right/office and to carry out a destructive function—‘saṃhāra’ of beings—while remaining within the bounds of dharma, emphasizing duty over personal hesitation.