Shloka 35
भीष्मरक्षण-प्रकरणम् / The Protective Screen around Bhīṣma and the Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Clash
लोकस्तद्ू वेद यदहं पितु: प्रियचिकीर्षया । राज्यं स्फीतं महाबाहो स्त्रियश्न त्यक्तवान् पुरा,“महाबाहो! सारा संसार यह जानता है कि मैंने पूर्वकालमें पिताका प्रिय करनेकी इच्छासे समृद्धिशाली राज्य तथा स्त्रियोंका परित्याग कर दिया था
lokas tad veda yad ahaṁ pituḥ priyacikīrṣayā | rājyaṁ sphītaṁ mahābāho striyaś ca tyaktavān purā ||
सञ्जय उवाच— “महाबाहो, लोकः सर्वः वेद— यदहं पितुः प्रियचिकीर्षया पुरा स्फीतं राज्यं स्त्रियश्च त्यक्तवान्।”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed as filial duty and self-restraint: personal power and pleasure (kingdom and women) may be renounced to uphold a higher commitment and to fulfill what is deemed righteous toward one’s father.
A speaker recalls a widely known past act of renunciation—giving up a prosperous kingdom and marital/sexual life—framing it as a deliberate sacrifice made to please his father, thereby underscoring the moral authority behind his present stance in the war narrative.