Shloka 10

Devanagari script

पितुराज्ञां कथं कुर्या न हन्यां मातरं कथम्‌ । कथं धर्मच्छलेनास्मिन्‌ निमज्जेयमसाधुवत्‌,उसने सोचा कि “मैं किस उपायसे काम लूँ जिससे पिताकी आज्ञाका पालन भी हो जाय और माताका वध भी न करना पड़े। धर्मके बहाने यह मेरे ऊपर महान्‌ संकट आ गया है। भला, अन्य असाधु पुरुषोंकी भाँति मैं भी इसमें ड्ूबनेका कैसे साहस करूँ?

Transliteration

piturājñāṁ kathaṁ kuryā na hanyāṁ mātaraṁ katham | kathaṁ dharmacchalena asmin nimajjeyam asādhuvat ||

Translation

അവൻ ചിന്തിച്ചു—“പിതാവിന്റെ ആജ്ഞ എങ്ങനെ നിർവഹിക്കും, അതേസമയം മാതാവിനെ എങ്ങനെ വധിക്കാതിരിക്കും? ‘ധർമ്മം’ എന്ന മറവിൽ എനിക്ക് മേൽ മഹാസങ്കടം വീണിരിക്കുന്നു; മറ്റു അസാധുക്കളെപ്പോലെ ഞാൻ ഈ പാപത്തിൽ എങ്ങനെ മുങ്ങാൻ ധൈര്യപ്പെടും?”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'pituḥ-ājñā (पितुराज्ञा)', 'meaning': 'the father’s command/order'}, {'term': 'katham (कथम्)', 'meaning': 'how? in what way?'}, {'term': 'kuryām (कुर्याम्)', 'meaning': 'should I do/should I carry out? (optative)'}, {'term': 'na hanyām (न हन्याम्)', 'meaning': 'I should not kill (optative)'}, {'term': 'mātaram (मातरम्)', 'meaning': 'mother (accusative singular)'}, {'term': 'dharma-chalena (धर्मच्छलेन)', 'meaning': 'by the guise/pretext of dharma

• using ‘dharma’ as a cover'}, {'term': 'asmin (अस्मिन्)', 'meaning': 'in this (matter/situation)'}, {'term': 'nimajjeyam (निमज्जेयम्)', 'meaning': 'should I sink/fall into (wrongdoing) (optative)'}, {'term': 'asādhu-vat (असाधुवत्)', 'meaning': 'like an unrighteous/unsaintly person'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• father (pituḥ)
• mother (mātaram)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a classic dharma-conflict: obedience to a legitimate authority (the father’s command) versus the higher moral prohibition against harming one’s mother. It warns against ‘dharma-chhala’—using the language of righteousness to justify an act that one’s conscience recognizes as adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma voices an inner debate: he seeks a way to fulfill his father’s instruction without committing matricide. He recognizes that the situation has become a severe ethical crisis and refuses to ‘sink’ into wrongdoing like an asādhu, even if it could be rationalized as duty.