Shloka 67
Drupada’s Alarm and Inquiry Regarding Śikhaṇḍinī (द्रुपदस्य भय-विमर्शः)
|| न हन्यामहमेतेन कारणेन शिखण्डिनम्,तात! इसी कारणसे मैं शिखण्डीको नहीं मार सकता। शिखण्डीके जन्मका वास्तविक वृत्तान्त मैं जानता हूँ। अतः समरभूमिमें वह आततायी होकर आवे तो भी मैं इसे नहीं मारूँगा
na hanyām aham etena kāraṇena śikhaṇḍinam, tāta | etat-kāraṇāt ahaṃ śikhaṇḍinaṃ na hantum śaknomi | śikhaṇḍinaḥ janmanaḥ vāstavikaṃ vṛttāntaṃ ahaṃ jānāmi | ataḥ samarabhūmau sa ātatāyī bhūtvā api āgacchet, tathāpi aham enaṃ na haniṣyāmi |
Бхишма сказал: «По этой причине, дитя моё, я не могу убить Шикхандина. Я знаю истинное сказание о рождении Шикхандина; потому, даже если он выйдет на поле брани как нападающий, я не лишу его жизни.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, Bhīṣma upholds a self-imposed ethical boundary: knowledge of Śikhaṇḍin’s true birth-history becomes a decisive moral reason for restraint, so that not every enemy—even an aggressor—must be met with lethal force.
Bhīṣma explains to an interlocutor (addressed as “tāta”) that he will not kill Śikhaṇḍin in battle. He grounds this decision in his knowledge of Śikhaṇḍin’s real origin and declares that this resolve stands even if Śikhaṇḍin approaches as an ātatāyī (violent assailant).