Shloka 20
मृषा कृत्वा व्रतं तस्य पापस्य मधुसूदन । पातयिष्ये रथात् कायं शरै: संनतपर्वभि:
mṛṣā kṛtvā vrataṁ tasya pāpasya madhusūdana | pātayiṣye rathāt kāyaṁ śaraiḥ saṁnataparvabhiḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O Madhusūdana, ich werde das Gelübde jenes Sünders zur Lüge machen. Mit Pfeilen, deren Gelenke gebogen sind, werde ich seinen Leib niederstrecken und ihn vom Streitwagen schleudern.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how rigid vows taken in anger or for wrongful ends can be overturned by righteous opposition; it also reflects the battlefield ethic that a ‘vow’ does not sanctify an unjust intent, and that consequences follow adharma.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s resolve addressed to Kṛṣṇa (Madhusūdana): he intends to invalidate an enemy’s vow by using specially described arrows to strike him down and topple him from his chariot.