Bhishma said: O Dhritarashtra, I can never consent to a quarrel with the sons of Pandu. There is no doubt Pandu was to me as you are to me.

The sons of Gandhari are (as dear) to me as the sons of Kunti. O Dhritarashtra, they are to be protected as much by me as you.

O king, they are as much dear to me as prince Duryodhana and other Kurus.

Therefore, I can never like a quarrel with them. Conclude a treaty with those heroes and give them the half of the kingdom. There is no doubt that this is the ancestral kingdom of those best of the Kurus (the Pandavas).

O Duryodhana, as you consider this kingdom as your paternal property, so do the Pandavas consider this their paternal property.

If the illustrious sons of Pandu do not get the kingdom, how can it be yours or of any descendant of the Bharata race?

O best of the Bharata race, if you think you have rightfully come into the possession of the kingdom, I think, they can consider also that they have rightfully come to the possession of the kingdom before you.

Give them in peace the half of the kingdom. O best of men, this is for the good of all.

If you act otherwise, no good will come to any of us. There is no doubt we all will be covered with dishonour.

Try to maintain your good name. A good name is the source of one's strength. It is said that a man, whose reputation is gone, lives in vain.

O descendant of Kuru, O son of Gandhari, a man not die so long his reputation exists. One lives as long as his fame lasts; he dies when his reputation is gone.

Therefore, follow the practice that is worthy of the Kuru race. O mighty-armed hero, act as your forefathers did before you.

It is fortunate for us that the sons of Pritha are alive; It is fortunate that the sinful Purochana, without being successful (in his evil design), himself perished.

O son of Gandhari, from that time when I heard that the sons of Kunti Bhoja's daughter had been burnt to death, I could not meet with any living creatures. O best of men, hearing the way in which Kunti was killed, men do not consider Purochana so much guilty as they consider you.

O king, therefore the escape of the sons of Pandu from that conflagration and their present reappearance remove your bad repute.

O descendant of Kuru, know that as long as those heroes (the Pandavas) live, the wielder of thunder (Indra) himself cannot deprive them of their paternal property.

They are virtuous and united; they are unjustly kept out of their equal share in the kingdom.

If you want to act justly, if you want to act what is pleasing to me, if you want to seek the welfare of all, then give them the half of the kingdom.