Shloka 11
Gautama–Yama Saṃvāda: Mātṛ-Pitṛ-Ṛṇa (Debt to Parents) and Śubha-Loka Attainment
कि नु दुःखमतोडचन्यद् वै यदहं श्रमकर्शित: । भवतामाश्रमं प्राप्तो हताशो भ्रष्टलक्षण:
ki nu duḥkham ato 'nyad vai yad ahaṃ śramakarśitaḥ | bhavatām āśramaṃ prāpto hatāśo bhraṣṭalakṣaṇaḥ ||
कि नु दुःखमतोडचन्यद् वै यदहं श्रमकर्शितः। भवतामाश्रमं प्राप्तो हताशो भ्रष्टलक्षणः॥ “श्रमकर्शितोऽहं यद् भवतामाश्रमं प्राप्तः, हताशो भ्रष्टलक्षणः—अतोऽन्यद् दुःखं किं नु स्यात्?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and psychological weight of losing one’s rightful status and dignity: true suffering is not merely physical fatigue but the collapse of hope and identity, prompting humility and a turn toward the refuge of an āśrama and dharmic counsel.
Bhishma addresses revered ascetics, describing his condition: exhausted by hardship, he has come to their hermitage despondent and deprived of the outward signs of his former royal standing, expressing that this feels like the greatest possible sorrow.