Shloka 35

Devanagari script

चलेद्धि हिमवान्‌ स्थानान्निष्प्रभ: स्याद्‌ दिवाकर: । शैत्यं सोमात्‌ प्रणश्येत मत्सत्यं विचलेद्‌ यदि,यदि मेरा सत्य विचलित हो जाय तो हिमालय पर्वत अपने स्थानसे हट जाय, सूर्यकी प्रभा नष्ट हो जाय और चन्द्रमासे उसकी शीतलता दूर हो जाय (अर्थात्‌ जैसे हिमालय अपने स्थानसे नहीं हट सकता, सूर्यकी प्रभा नष्ट नहीं हो सकती, चन्द्रमासे उसकी शीतलता दूर नहीं हो सकती, वैसे ही मेरे वचन मिथ्या नहीं हो सकते)

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca | caleddhi himavān sthānān niṣprabhaḥ syād divākaraḥ | śaityaṃ somāt praṇaśyet matsatyaṃ vicaled yadi ||

Translation

Arjuna sprach: „Wenn meine Wahrheit wanken könnte, dann würde der Himālaya seinen Platz verlassen, die Sonne ihren Glanz verlieren und die Kühle des Mondes vergehen. Das kann nicht sein; darum kann mein Wort nicht falsch sein.“

Word by Word

चलेत्would move

हिindeed

हिमवान्Himavān (the Himalaya)

स्थानात्from (its) place

निष्प्रभःlusterless

स्यात्would be

दिवाकरःthe sun

शैत्यंcoolness

सोमात्from the moon

प्रणश्येत्would perish / vanish

मत्my

सत्यंtruth / true statement

विचलेत्would waver / deviate

यदिif

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Himavān (Himalaya)

Divākara (Sun)

Soma (Moon)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Truthfulness (satya) is presented as an unshakable moral anchor: a person of integrity treats their spoken word as immovable as the Himalaya and as constant as the Sun’s radiance and the Moon’s coolness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna emphatically asserts the inviolability of his promise by using cosmic impossibilities as comparisons, declaring that his statement cannot become false any more than the Himalaya can shift or the Sun and Moon can lose their essential qualities.