Shloka 563
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
इति यस्य महाघोरं व्रतमासीन्महात्मन: । उसके नष्ट होनेमें और कोई कारण मुझे नहीं दिखायी देता है
iti yasya mahāghoraṁ vratam āsīn mahātmanaḥ |
বৈশম্পায়ন ক’লে—সেই মহাত্মা বীৰৰ ব্ৰত আছিল অতি ভয়ংকৰ। তেওঁৰ বিনাশৰ ইয়াৰ বাহিৰে আন কোনো কাৰণ মই নেদেখোঁ—তেওঁ এই দাৰুণ সংকল্পত আবদ্ধ হৈছিল: “যেতিয়ালৈকে মই অৰ্জুনক বধ নকৰোঁ, তেতিয়ালৈকে আন কাৰো দ্বাৰা মোৰ পা ধোৱাম নোৱাৰোঁ।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A rigid, ego-driven vow (vrata) can become self-destructive when it overrides prudence and dharma. The passage frames the hero’s downfall as arising chiefly from an extreme resolve, illustrating how obsession with a single aim—especially in war—can narrow judgment and invite ruin.
Vaiśampāyana comments on a warrior’s fate, pointing to his ‘mahāghora’ vow as the decisive cause. The vow is described as: until he kills Arjuna, he will not allow others to wash his feet—an emblem of uncompromising determination that the narrator treats as a key factor in his destruction.