Shloka 23
Śakuni–Duryodhana-saṃvāda: Dyūta-yojanā (Śakuni and Duryodhana on Planning the Dice-Game)
कि हि शक्यं मया कर्तु यद् वृद्धानां त्वया नृप । पुरा कथयतां नून॑ न श्रुतं धर्मवादिनाम्
ki hi śakyaṃ mayā kartuṃ yad vṛddhānāṃ tvayā nṛpa | purā kathayatāṃ nūna na śrutaṃ dharmavādinām, bhīṣma |
Śiśupāla nói: “Hỡi bậc quân vương, ta còn làm được gì, nếu ngài—Bhīṣma—hẳn đã chẳng từng nghe từ miệng các bậc lão thành, những người giảng giải dharma, điều phải lẽ mà nay ta sắp nói?”
शिशुपाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral authority is traditionally grounded in hearing and learning from elders who expound dharma; Shishupala frames his argument as something any properly instructed elder like Bhishma should already know, using this to challenge Bhishma’s stance.
In the royal assembly context, Shishupala addresses Bhishma and questions how he (Shishupala) can be expected to act differently if Bhishma has not even heard—despite his age and status—the dharmic principle Shishupala is about to assert, sharpening the polemical tone of the debate.