Shloka 8
Gautama–Yama Saṃvāda: Mātṛ-Pitṛ-Ṛṇa (Debt to Parents) and Śubha-Loka Attainment
हैहयानां कुले जात: सुमित्रो मित्रनन्दन: । चरामि मृगयूथानि निघ्नन् बाणै: सहस्रश:,“तपोधनो! मेरा जन्म हैहय-कुलमें हुआ है। मैं मित्रोंका आनन्द बढ़ानेवाला राजा सुमित्र हूँ और सहस्रों बाणोंक आघातसे मृग-समूहोंका विनाश करता हुआ विचर रहा हूँ
haihayānāṃ kule jātaḥ sumitro mitranandanaḥ | carāmi mṛgayūthāni nighnan bāṇaiḥ sahasraśaḥ ||
Bhishma berkata: “Aku dilahirkan dalam keturunan Haihaya; akulah Sumitra, yang menggembirakan sahabat-sahabatku. Aku merayau, menumpaskan kawanan rusa dengan ribuan anak panah.” Ucapan itu menonjolkan gambaran diri tentang keperkasaan dan jati diri, sambil menyiratkan ketegangan etika: kemahiran perang yang sepatutnya melindungi boleh juga tersasar menjadi keganasan yang sia-sia.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse implicitly raises the dharmic question of how power and martial ability should be used: lineage and prowess can be proclaimed with pride, yet the act described—slaughtering animal herds for sport—invites reflection on restraint (saṃyama) and the proper aims of a kṣatriya’s strength.
A speaker (within Bhishma’s discourse) introduces himself as Sumitra of the Haihaya line, describing his roaming life and his practice of killing herds of deer with countless arrows—setting up characterization and a moral backdrop for the surrounding discussion in the Śānti Parva.