Shloka 10

Devanagari script

पितुराज्ञां कथं कुर्या न हन्यां मातरं कथम्‌ । कथं धर्मच्छलेनास्मिन्‌ निमज्जेयमसाधुवत्‌,उसने सोचा कि “मैं किस उपायसे काम लूँ जिससे पिताकी आज्ञाका पालन भी हो जाय और माताका वध भी न करना पड़े। धर्मके बहाने यह मेरे ऊपर महान्‌ संकट आ गया है। भला, अन्य असाधु पुरुषोंकी भाँति मैं भी इसमें ड्ूबनेका कैसे साहस करूँ?

Transliteration

piturājñāṁ kathaṁ kuryā na hanyāṁ mātaraṁ katham | kathaṁ dharmacchalena asmin nimajjeyam asādhuvat ||

Translation

Naisip niya: “Paano ko tutuparin ang utos ng aking ama, at paano ko naman maiiwasang patayin ang aking ina? Sa pagkukunwaring ‘dharma,’ isang mabigat na kapahamakan ang bumagsak sa akin. Paano ko magagawa, gaya ng ibang masasamang tao, na ilubog ang sarili sa ganitong kasalanan?”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'pituḥ-ājñā (पितुराज्ञा)', 'meaning': 'the father’s command/order'}, {'term': 'katham (कथम्)', 'meaning': 'how? in what way?'}, {'term': 'kuryām (कुर्याम्)', 'meaning': 'should I do/should I carry out? (optative)'}, {'term': 'na hanyām (न हन्याम्)', 'meaning': 'I should not kill (optative)'}, {'term': 'mātaram (मातरम्)', 'meaning': 'mother (accusative singular)'}, {'term': 'dharma-chalena (धर्मच्छलेन)', 'meaning': 'by the guise/pretext of dharma

• using ‘dharma’ as a cover'}, {'term': 'asmin (अस्मिन्)', 'meaning': 'in this (matter/situation)'}, {'term': 'nimajjeyam (निमज्जेयम्)', 'meaning': 'should I sink/fall into (wrongdoing) (optative)'}, {'term': 'asādhu-vat (असाधुवत्)', 'meaning': 'like an unrighteous/unsaintly person'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• father (pituḥ)
• mother (mātaram)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a classic dharma-conflict: obedience to a legitimate authority (the father’s command) versus the higher moral prohibition against harming one’s mother. It warns against ‘dharma-chhala’—using the language of righteousness to justify an act that one’s conscience recognizes as adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma voices an inner debate: he seeks a way to fulfill his father’s instruction without committing matricide. He recognizes that the situation has become a severe ethical crisis and refuses to ‘sink’ into wrongdoing like an asādhu, even if it could be rationalized as duty.