Shloka 5
Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement
कृतो विभेदेन ममोरुमेत्य प्रविश्य कीटस्य तनुं विरूपाम् । ममोसमेत्य प्रबिभेद कीट: सुप्ते गुरौ तत्र शिरो निधाय,'पूर्वकालकी बात है, मैं दिव्य अस्त्रोंको प्राप्त करनेकी इच्छासे ब्राह्मणका वेष बनाकर परशुरामजीके पास रहता था। शल्य! वहाँ भी अर्जुनका ही हित चाहनेवाले देवराज इन्द्रने मेरे कार्यमें विघ्न उपस्थित कर दिया था। एक दिन गुरुदेव मेरी जाँघपर अपना मस्तक रखकर सो गये थे। उस समय इन्द्रने एक कीडेके भयंकर शरीरमें प्रवेश करके मेरी जाँघके पास आकर उसे काट लिया, काटकर उसमें भारी घाव कर दिया और इस कार्यके द्वारा इन्होंने मेरे मनोरथमें विध्न डाल दिया
sañjaya uvāca | kṛto vibhedena mamorūm etya praviśya kīṭasya tanuṃ virūpām | mamo sametya prabibheda kīṭaḥ supte gurau tatra śiro nidhāya |
Sañjaya said: “Having assumed a hideous worm’s body by a contrivance, it came to my thigh and entered it. Approaching me, the worm bored into my flesh while my teacher slept with his head resting there. Thus an obstacle was laid in my endeavor—an act of covert interference meant to thwart my pursuit of divine weapons.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how hidden interference and deception can obstruct a seeker’s disciplined pursuit, and it underscores the ethical tension between loyalty to one’s aims and the disruptive actions of others—especially when such actions exploit a vulnerable moment in the teacher–disciple setting.
A worm, assumed through a contrived transformation, approaches and bores into the speaker’s thigh while the guru sleeps with his head resting there. The incident is presented as a deliberate impediment to the speaker’s larger goal of acquiring divine weapons.