Shloka 24
Uttarā-vilāpaḥ and Kṛṣṇasya satya-vacanenābhi-mañyu-jasyābhijīvanam
Uttarā’s Lament and the Revival of Abhimanyu’s Son by Krishna’s Truth-Act
तच्च नाकरवं कृष्ण नृशंसा जीवितप्रिया । इदानीं मां गतां तत्र कि नु वक्ष्यति फाल्गुनि:,परंतु श्रीकृष्ण! मैंने उस प्रतिज्ञाका पालन नहीं किया। मैं बड़ी कठोरहृदया हूँ। मुझे पतिदेव नहीं, ये प्राण ही प्यारे हैं। यदि इस समय मैं परलोकमें जाऊँ तो वहाँ अर्जुनकुमार मुझसे क्या कहेंगे?”
tac ca nākaravaṁ kṛṣṇa nṛśaṁsā jīvitapriyā | idānīṁ māṁ gatāṁ tatra ki nu vakṣyati phālgunī ||
Vaishampayana said: “But, O Krishna, I did not carry out that vow. I am cruel-hearted, loving my own life. If I were to depart now to the other world, what would Arjuna, son of Phalguna, say to me there?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds moral accountability: failing to keep a vow is experienced as inner blame, and the speaker measures her action not only by present survival but by how it will be judged by the righteous (here, Arjuna) even beyond death.
A woman (speaking within Vaiśampāyana’s narration) confesses to Krishna that she did not fulfill a prior promise. She condemns herself as ‘life-loving’ and fears facing Arjuna in the next world, anticipating reproach for her lapse.