यथा स सत्यो भवति तथा कुरु वृषध्वज । यथा हन्यां समागम्य भीष्म शान्तनवं युधि,“वृषध्वज! आपका यह वरदान जिस प्रकार सत्य हो, वैसा कीजिये; जिससे मैं युद्धमें शान्लनुपुत्र भीष्मका सामना करके उन्हें मार सकूँ”
yathā sa satyo bhavati tathā kuru vṛṣadhvaja | yathā hanyāṃ samāgamya bhīṣma śāntanavaṃ yudhi ||
“اے وِرشَدھوج! ایسا کیجیے کہ آپ کا یہ ور سچ ثابت ہو—تاکہ میں میدانِ جنگ میں شانتنو کے پتر بھیشم کا سامنا کر کے اسے ودھ کر سکوں۔”
भीष्म उवाच
The verse highlights the tension between human resolve and divine sanction: a warrior seeks the fulfillment of a granted boon so that a destined outcome in war becomes possible. It underscores how vows/boons (satya) are treated as binding realities that shape ethical and narrative causality in the epic.
Bhīṣma addresses Vṛṣadhvaja (Śiva), asking him to act so that a previously given boon proves true, enabling Bhīṣma to meet Śāntanu’s son Bhīṣma in battle and kill him—reflecting a context of impending war and the invocation of divine support for a specific martial outcome.