Shloka 27
Chapter 78: Royal Responsibility for Wealth, Social Order, and the Protection of Dvijas
Kekaya Exemplum
न मे शस्त्रैरनिर्भिन्न गात्रे द्वयद्भुलमन्तरम् । धर्मार्थ युध्यमानस्य मामकान्तरमाविश:
na me śastrair anirbhinnagātre dvyaṅgulam antaram | dharmārthaṃ yudhyamānasya māmakaṃ antaram āviśaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Sa aking katawan, wala kahit puwang na kasinlapad ng dalawang daliri na hindi natusok ng mga sandata habang nakikipagdigma ako para sa dharma. Gayunman—paano ka nakapasok sa pinakaloob ng aking pagkatao?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one fights under the banner of dharma, the outer wounds of war do not fully explain the deeper, inward impact—Bhīṣma distinguishes bodily injury from a more intimate ‘entry’ into the heart or inner self, pointing to the moral and psychological depth of dharma-conflict.
Bhīṣma, recalling his battle for dharma, says his body is pierced everywhere by weapons, yet he addresses someone as having ‘entered’ his inner being—an expression of astonishment at a deeper penetration than physical harm, often implying a profound emotional, moral, or spiritual influence.