Bhishma Advises Giving Half the Kingdom

Verse 1 (1.222.1)

न रोचते विग्रहो मे पाण्डुपुत्रैः कथंचन । यथैव धृतराष्ट्रो मे तथा पाण्डुरसंशयम् ॥

na rocate vigraho me pāṇḍuputraiḥ kathaṃcana | yathaiva dhṛtarāṣṭro me tathā pāṇḍurasaṃśayam

A quarrel with the sons of Pandu does not please me in any way. As Dhritarashtra is to me, so, without a doubt, is Pandu.

Verse 2 (1.222.2)

गान्धार्याश्च यथा पुत्रास्तथा कुन्तीसुता मम । यथा च मम ते रक्ष्या धृतराष्ट्र तथा तव ॥

gāndhāryāśca yathā putrāstathā kuntīsutā mama | yathā ca mama te rakṣyā dhṛtarāṣṭra tathā tava

As the sons of Gandhari are mine, so are the sons of Kunti. And as they are mine to protect, Dhritarashtra, so are they yours.

Verse 3 (1.222.3)

यथा च मम राज्ञश्च तथा दुर्योधनस्य ते । तथा कुरूणां सर्वेषामन्येषामपि पार्थिव ॥

yathā ca mama rājñaśca tathā duryodhanasya te | tathā kurūṇāṃ sarveṣāmanyeṣāmapi pārthiva

And as they are mine and the king's, so are they Duryodhana's too, and likewise the concern of all the Kurus and of others as well, O king.

Verse 4 (1.222.4)

एवं गते विग्रहं तैर्न रोचे । सन्धाय वीरैर्दीयतामर्धभूमिः । तेषामपीदं प्रपितामहानां । राज्यं पितुश्चैव कुरूत्तमानाम् ॥

evaṃ gate vigrahaṃ tairna roce | sandhāya vīrairdīyatāmardhabhūmiḥ | teṣāmapīdaṃ prapitāmahānāṃ | rājyaṃ pituścaiva kurūttamānām

This being so, I do not favour a quarrel with them. Make peace with those heroes and give them half the land. This kingdom belonged to their great-grandfathers too, and to their father, the best of the Kurus.

Verse 5 (1.222.5)

दुर्योधन यथा राज्यं त्वमिदं तात पश्यसि । मम पैतृकमित्येवं तेऽपि पश्यन्ति पाण्डवाः ॥

duryodhana yathā rājyaṃ tvamidaṃ tāta paśyasi | mama paitṛkamityevaṃ te'pi paśyanti pāṇḍavāḥ

Duryodhana, my son, just as you look on this kingdom as your inheritance from your father, so do the Pandavas look on it too.

Note on the text: Corrected र्जायं → राज्यं (misprint in Wikisource; garbled aksharas, as in the critical edition "rājyaṃ").

Verse 6 (1.222.6)

यदि राज्यं न ते प्राप्ताः पाण्डवेया यशस्विनः । कुत एव तवापीदं भारतस्यापि कस्यचित् ॥

yadi rājyaṃ na te prāptāḥ pāṇḍaveyā yaśasvinaḥ | kuta eva tavāpīdaṃ bhāratasyāpi kasyacit

If the glorious sons of Pandu have no claim to the kingdom, how then can it be yours, or any Bharata's?

Verse 7 (1.222.7)

अधर्मेण च राज्यं त्वं प्राप्तवान्भरतर्षभ । तेऽपि राज्यमनुप्राप्ताः पूर्वमेवेति मे मतिः ॥

adharmeṇa ca rājyaṃ tvaṃ prāptavānbharatarṣabha | te'pi rājyamanuprāptāḥ pūrvameveti me matiḥ

You have come by the kingdom unrighteously, bull of the Bharatas; and in my judgement they had come into it even before you.

Note on the text: Wikisource reads अधर्मेण ("unrighteously"); the critical edition has "atha dharmeṇa" ("if righteously"). Kept as a recension variant and translated as printed.

Verse 8 (1.222.8)

मधुरेणैव राज्यस्य तेषामर्धं प्रदीयताम् । एतद्धि पुरुषव्याघ्र हितं सर्वजनस्य च ॥

madhureṇaiva rājyasya teṣāmardhaṃ pradīyatām | etaddhi puruṣavyāghra hitaṃ sarvajanasya ca

Let half the kingdom be given to them in friendship, tiger among men; that is for the good of all the people.

Verse 9 (1.222.9)

अतोऽन्यथा चेत्क्रियते न हितं नो भविष्यति । तवाप्यकीर्तिः सकला भविष्यति न संशयः ॥

ato'nyathā cetkriyate na hitaṃ no bhaviṣyati | tavāpyakīrtiḥ sakalā bhaviṣyati na saṃśayaḥ

If it is done otherwise, no good will come to us, and infamy will fall on you in full; of that there is no doubt.

Verse 10 (1.222.10)

कीर्तिरक्षणमातिष्ठ कीर्तिर्हि परमं बलम् । नष्टकीर्तेर्मनुष्यस्य जीवितं ह्यफलं स्मृतम् ॥

kīrtirakṣaṇamātiṣṭha kīrtirhi paramaṃ balam | naṣṭakīrtermanuṣyasya jīvitaṃ hyaphalaṃ smṛtam

Take care to guard your good name, for a good name is the greatest strength. The life of a man whose good name is lost is held to be fruitless.

Note on the text: Corrected ह्यफळं → ह्यफलं (misprint in Wikisource; ळ for ल, as in the critical edition "aphalaṃ").

Verse 11 (1.222.11)

यावत्कीर्तिर्मनुष्यस्य न प्रणश्यति कौरव । तावज्जीवति गान्धारे नष्टकीर्तिस्तु नश्यति ॥

yāvatkīrtirmanuṣyasya na praṇaśyati kaurava | tāvajjīvati gāndhāre naṣṭakīrtistu naśyati

As long as a man's good name does not perish, Kaurava, so long does he live, son of Gandhari; but he whose good name is lost perishes.

Note on the text: Corrected गान्धरे → गान्धारे (misprint in Wikisource; dropped vowel sign, as in the critical edition "gāndhāre").

Verse 12 (1.222.12)

तमिमं समुपातिष्ठ धर्मं कुरुकुलोचितम् । अनुरूपं महाबाहो पूर्वेषामात्मनः कुरु ॥

tamimaṃ samupātiṣṭha dharmaṃ kurukulocitam | anurūpaṃ mahābāho pūrveṣāmātmanaḥ kuru

Hold to this duty, which befits the Kuru line. Act, mighty-armed one, in a manner worthy of your forefathers.

Verse 13 (1.222.13)

दिष्ट्या ध्रियन्ते पार्था हि दिष्ट्या जीवति सा पृथा । दिष्ट्या पुरोचनः पापो न सकामोऽत्ययं गतः ॥

diṣṭyā dhriyante pārthā hi diṣṭyā jīvati sā pṛthā | diṣṭyā purocanaḥ pāpo na sakāmo'tyayaṃ gataḥ

By good fortune the Parthas are alive; by good fortune Pritha lives; by good fortune the wicked Purochana has met his end with his wish unfulfilled.

Verse 14 (1.222.14)

यदाप्रभृति दग्धास्ते कुन्तिभोजसुतासुताः । तदाप्रभृति गान्धारे न शक्नोम्यभिवीक्षितुम् ॥

yadāprabhṛti dagdhāste kuntibhojasutāsutāḥ | tadāprabhṛti gāndhāre na śaknomyabhivīkṣitum

Ever since the sons of Kuntibhoja's daughter were burnt, son of Gandhari, I have not been able to look anyone in the face.

Note on the text: The first line is in the vulgate only (CE apparatus 1.195.13*1965); the second line is the critical edition's 1.195.14ab.

Verse 15 (1.222.15)

लोके प्राणभृतां किंचिच्छ्रुत्वा कुन्तीं तथागताम् । न चापि दोषेण तथा लोको मन्येत्पुरोचनम् । यथा त्वां पुरुषव्याघ्र लोको दोषेण गच्छति ॥

loke prāṇabhṛtāṃ kiṃcicchrutvā kuntīṃ tathāgatām | na cāpi doṣeṇa tathā loko manyetpurocanam | yathā tvāṃ puruṣavyāghra loko doṣeṇa gacchati

Of all living beings in the world, whoever has heard that Kunti met such an end does not hold Purochana as much to blame, tiger among men, as the world holds you.

Note on the text: The critical edition divides these lines differently: the first line is its 1.195.14cd, and the second and third lines are its 1.195.15 (where it reads "vaiti" for मन्येत्).

Verse 16 (1.222.16)

तदिदं जीवितं तेषां तव किल्बिषनाशनम् । संमन्तव्यं महाराज पाण्डवानां च दर्शनम् ॥

tadidaṃ jīvitaṃ teṣāṃ tava kilbiṣanāśanam | saṃmantavyaṃ mahārāja pāṇḍavānāṃ ca darśanam

Therefore, great king, you should welcome their being alive, and the sight of the Pandavas, as the wiping away of your guilt.

Verse 17 (1.222.17)

न चापि तेषां वीराणां जीवतां कुरुनन्दन । पित्र्योऽंशः शक्य आदातुमपि वज्रभृता स्वयं ॥

na cāpi teṣāṃ vīrāṇāṃ jīvatāṃ kurunandana | pitryo'ṃśaḥ śakya ādātumapi vajrabhṛtā svayaṃ

Nor, while those heroes live, scion of the Kurus, could their father's share be taken from them even by the wielder of the thunderbolt himself.

Note on the text: Corrected पित्र्योंशः → पित्र्योऽंशः (misprint in Wikisource; missing avagraha for the elided अ of अंशः, as in the critical edition "pitryo 'ṃśaḥ").

Verse 18 (1.222.18)

ते सर्वेऽवस्थिता धर्मे सर्वे चैवैकचेतसः । अधर्मेण निरस्ताश्च तुल्ये राज्ये विशेषतः ॥

te sarve'vasthitā dharme sarve caivaikacetasaḥ | adharmeṇa nirastāśca tulye rājye viśeṣataḥ

They are all steadfast in dharma and all of one mind; and they were driven out wrongfully, and that from a kingdom in which their share is equal.

Verse 19 (1.222.19)

यदि धर्मस्त्वया कार्यो यदि कार्यं प्रियं च मे । क्षेमं च यदि कर्तव्यं तेषामर्धं प्रदीयताम् ॥

yadi dharmastvayā kāryo yadi kāryaṃ priyaṃ ca me | kṣemaṃ ca yadi kartavyaṃ teṣāmardhaṃ pradīyatām

If you would do what is right, if you would do what pleases me, and if you would secure the general good, let half the kingdom be given to them.