Shloka 20
Phala of Vrata, Niyama, Svādhyāya, Dama, Satya, Brahmacarya, and Service (व्रत-नियम-स्वाध्याय-दम-सत्य-ब्रह्मचर्य-शुश्रूषा-फलप्रश्नः)
तेनैवमुक्तस्तमहं प्रत्यवोचं प्राप्तोडस्मि ते विषयं दुर्निवर्त्यम् । इच्छाम्यहं पुण्यकृतां समृद्धान् लोकान द्रष्ठ॑ यदि ते5हं वराह:
tenaivam uktas tam ahaṃ pratyavocaṃ prāpto 'smi te viṣayaṃ durnivartyam | icchāmy ahaṃ puṇyakṛtāṃ samṛddhān lokān draṣṭuṃ yadi te 'haṃ varārhaḥ ||
Когда он сказал мне так, я ответил: «Благословенный Владыка! Я вступил в твою область, откуда возвращение чрезвычайно трудно. Если в твоих очах я достоин дара, я желаю узреть преисполненные благоденствия миры, которых достигают совершившие заслуги».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights aspiration guided by dharma: one seeks not power or revenge but the vision of the higher realms earned through puṇya (meritorious conduct), implying that ethical action has enduring consequences beyond this life.
Bhishma reports his own response in a dialogue: having entered a formidable, hard-to-return realm of a divine or powerful being, he requests—if deemed worthy of a boon—to see the prosperous worlds attained by virtuous, merit-performing persons.