Shloka 26
भीष्मस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति उपालम्भः
Bhīṣma’s Reproof to Duryodhana
अद्यानृण्यं गमिष्यामि पितृणां मातुरेव च । ये त्वया सुनृशंसेन दीर्घकालं प्रवासिता:
adyānṛṇyaṃ gamiṣyāmi pitṝṇāṃ mātur eva ca | ye tvayā sunṛśaṃsena dīrghakālaṃ pravāsitāḥ ||
“இன்று என் முன்னோர்களுக்கும் என் தாய்க்கும் உள்ள கடனை நான் தீர்த்துக் கொள்வேன்—நீ, கொடூரனே, அவர்களை நீண்ட காலம் நாடு கடத்தலில் தள்ளியதற்காக.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames action in terms of ṛṇa (debt/obligation): one’s moral duties to ancestors and parents are not merely emotional but ethical commitments. It also condemns sunṛśaṃsatā (ruthless cruelty) as a cause of prolonged suffering, implying that adharma creates liabilities that demand redress.
Sañjaya reports a speaker’s resolve that “today” he will repay the debt owed to his lineage and mother by confronting the one whose cruelty caused a long exile—an allusion to the long banishment imposed on the rightful claimants, now answered on the battlefield.