Shloka 38
Bhīṣma–Śiśupāla-saṃvādaḥ
Bhishma and Shishupala’s exchange in the assembly
ते त्वां हंससधर्माणमपीमे वसुधाधिपा: । निहन्युर्भीष्म संक्रुद्धा: पक्षिणस्तं यथाण्डजम्,तुम भी उस हंसके ही समान हो, अतः ये सब नरेश अत्यन्त कुपित होकर आज तुम्हें उसी तरह मार डालेंगे, जैसे उन पक्षियोंने हंसकी हत्या कर डाली थी। भीष्म! इस विषयमें पुराणवेत्ता विद्वान् एक गाथा गाया करते हैं। भरतकुलभूषण! मैं उसे भी तुमको भलीभाँति सुनाये देता हूँ
te tvāṁ haṁsasadharmāṇam apīme vasudhādhipāḥ | nihanyur bhīṣma saṁkruddhāḥ pakṣiṇas taṁ yathāṇḍajam ||
నీవు కూడా స్వభావంలో ఆ హంసతో సమానుడవు; అందుచేత ఈ భూపతులు కోపంతో నేడు నిన్ను కూడా అలాగే సంహరిస్తారు—ఆ పక్షులు ఆ అండజ హంసను చంపినట్లే, ఓ భీష్మా।
शिशुपाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a moralizing comparison: a person perceived as swan-like—distinct, proud, or set apart—may become a target of collective anger. It warns how public insult and factional rage in a royal assembly can turn into violence, and it frames the point through an exemplum (a remembered gāthā) to lend traditional authority.
Śiśupāla addresses Bhīṣma in the royal assembly, threatening that the assembled kings, provoked and furious, will kill him, likening Bhīṣma to a swan killed by other birds. He then signals that he will support his claim by narrating an old Purāṇic gāthā known to traditional scholars.