Shloka 21
जयद्रथवध-प्रतिज्ञा
Arjuna’s Vow to Neutralize Jayadratha
न मे जय: प्रीतिकरो न राज्यं न चामरत्वं न सुरैः: सलोकता । इमं समीक्ष्याप्रतिवीर्यपौरुषं निपातितं देववरात्मजात्मजम्,“जिसके बल और पुरुषार्थकी कहीं तुलना नहीं थी, देवेन्द्रकुमार अर्जुनके पुत्र इस अभिमन्युको रणक्षेत्रमें मारा गया देख अब मुझे विजय, राज्य, अमरत्व तथा देवलोककी प्राप्ति भी प्रसन्न नहीं कर सकती'
na me jayaḥ prītikaro na rājyaṁ na cāmaratvaṁ na suraiḥ salokatā | imaṁ samīkṣyāprativīryapauruṣaṁ nipātitaṁ devavarātmajātmajam ||
Sañjaya said: “Victory brings me no joy—nor does kingship, nor immortality, nor even residence in the same world as the gods—when I behold Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna and grandson of Indra, fallen on the battlefield, whose valor and manly effort had no equal.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and emotional cost of war: even the highest worldly and heavenly attainments—victory, sovereignty, immortality, or divine companionship—lose their value when purchased at the price of a noble life. It highlights the primacy of human loss over triumph.
Sañjaya reports the aftermath of Abhimanyu’s fall in battle. Seeing the peerless young hero—Arjuna’s son and Indra’s grandson—slain, Sañjaya declares that no success or reward can bring him satisfaction in the face of this devastating death.