Shloka 9
Abhimanyu-śravaṇa-prastāva and Cakravyūha-vinyāsa
Prelude to Abhimanyu’s Account and the Wheel-Formation Deployment
वरं दत्त्वा मम प्रीतः पश्चाद् विकृतवानसि । आशाभड़ूं न कुर्वन्ति भक्तस्यार्या: कंचन,“आपने प्रसन्न होकर पहले तो मुझे वर दिया और पीछे उसे उलट दिया; परंतु श्रेष्ठ पुरुष किसी प्रकार भी अपने भक्तकी आशा भंग नहीं करते हैं”
varaṁ dattvā mama prītaḥ paścād vikṛtavān asi | āśābhaṅgaṁ na kurvanti bhaktasyāryāḥ kañcana ||
Sañjaya said: “Though you were pleased and first granted me a boon, you later reversed it. Yet the noble never, in any way, shatter the hope of one who is devoted.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical ideal: noble people do not break the hope of a devoted person. It implies that granting a boon or assurance creates a moral obligation, and reversing it is contrary to ārya-dharma (the conduct of the honorable).
Sañjaya speaks in a tone of reproach: he recalls that someone, pleased, granted him a boon earlier but later changed or withdrew it. He appeals to the standard of noble conduct—especially toward a loyal devotee—to argue that such a reversal should not occur.