Shloka 35
अर्जुनस्य सैन्धवाभिमुखगमनम् तथा विन्दानुविन्दयोर्वधः
Arjuna’s advance toward Saindhava and the fall of Vinda–Anuvinda
संश्रितं चापि यस्त्यक्त्वा साधुं तद्गबचने रतम् । न बिभर्ति नृशंसात्मा निन्दते चोपकारिणम्,जो नृशंस स्वभावका मनुष्य शरणागत, साधुपुरुष तथा आज्ञापालनमें तत्पर रहनेवाले पुरुषको त्यागकर उसका भरण-पोषण नहीं करता, जो उपकारीकी निन्दा करता है, पड़ोसमें रहनेवाले योग्य व्यक्तिको श्राद्धका दान नहीं देता और अयोग्य व्यक्तियोंको तथा शूद्राके स्वामी ब्राह्मणको देता है, जो मद्य पीनेवाला, धर्म-मर्यादाको तोड़नेवाला, कृतघ्न और स्वामीकी निन््दा करनेवाला है--इन सभी लोगोंको जो दुर्गति प्राप्त होती है, उसीको मैं भी शीघ्र ही प्राप्त करूँ; यदि कल जयद्रथका वध न कर डालूँ
arjuna uvāca | saṁśritaṁ cāpi yas tyaktvā sādhuṁ tad-vacane ratam | na bibharti nṛśaṁsātmā nindate copakāriṇam |
Arjuna said: “May I swiftly meet the same ruin that befalls the cruel-hearted man who abandons one who has sought his protection—a virtuous person devoted to righteous counsel—who then refuses to maintain him and even reviles his benefactor.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arjuna invokes a moral standard: abandoning a person who has sought refuge, refusing to support the virtuous dependent, and reviling a benefactor are grave ethical failures that lead to downfall.
In the midst of the Drona Parva, Arjuna frames his vow with a self-imprecation: he declares that if he fails in his intended act (contextually, the next day’s objective), he deserves the same fate as those guilty of severe breaches of dharma such as betraying a refugee and insulting a benefactor.