Shloka 513

ब्राह्मणपूजा-राजधर्मः | Royal Duty of Honoring Learned Brahmins

Devanagari script

अस्येदानीं वधादद्य भविष्याम्यनृण: पितु: । इतना ही नहीं

Transliteration

asyedānīṁ vadhād adya bhaviṣyāmy anṛṇaḥ pituḥ |

Translation

ภีษมะกล่าวว่า “หากข้าฆ่าเขาในวันนี้ ข้าก็จักพ้นจากหนี้คุณต่อบิดาเสียที มิใช่เพียงเท่านั้น—บุตรของเขายังทำลายแคว้นกาศีทั้งสิ้น และปล้นคลังรัตนะที่สั่งสมไว้ ในความโอหัง ข้าได้สังหารบุตรของพระราชานั้นไปแล้วร้อยคน เหลืออยู่เพียงพวกนี้เท่านั้น หากบัดนี้ข้าฆ่าพวกเขาด้วย ข้าจักหลุดพ้นจากพันธะต่อบิดาหรือไม่?”

Word by Word

• अस्य: of this (one)
• अस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• इदानीम्: now
• इदानीम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इदानीम्

• वधात्: from/after the killing
• वधात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वध
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• अद्य: today
• अद्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य

• भविष्यामि: I shall become
• भविष्यामि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), 1st, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अनृणः: free from debt/obligation
• अनृणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनृण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पितुः: of (my) father
• पितुः: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• father of Bhīṣma (pituḥ)
• king (rājā)
• the king’s hundred sons
• Kāśī (Kāśī-prānta)
• treasures/jewels (ratna-saṁgraha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage frames violence within the moral language of ṛṇa (obligation): Bhīṣma interprets his duty to his father as a binding debt that can be ‘discharged’ through decisive action. It highlights the tension between personal vows/filial duty and the ethical weight of killing, especially when justified as restoring order after plunder and arrogance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma speaks about completing an act of retribution: after the king’s sons have ravaged Kāśī and looted treasures, he claims to have already killed a hundred of them, with only a few remaining. He considers killing the rest ‘today’ so that he may become anṛṇa—free of his debt to his father.