Shloka 39
अर्जुनस्य सैन्धवाभिमुखगमनम् तथा विन्दानुविन्दयोर्वधः
Arjuna’s advance toward Saindhava and the fall of Vinda–Anuvinda
शीतभीताश्ष ये विप्रा रणभीताश्ष क्षत्रिया:,जो ब्राह्मण होकर सर्दीसे और क्षत्रिय होकर युद्धसे डरते हैं, जिस गाँवमें एक ही कुएँका जल पीया जाता हो और जहाँ कभी वेदमन्त्रोंकी ध्वनि न हुई हो, ऐसे स्थानोंमें जो छः: महीनोंतक निवास करते हैं, जो शास्त्रकी निन्दामें तत्पर रहते, दिनमें मैथुन करते और सोते हैं, जो दूसरोंके घरोंमें आग लगाते और दूसरोंको जहर दे देते हैं, जो कभी अग्निहोत्र और अतिथि-सत्कार नहीं करते तथा गायोंके पानी पीनेमें विघ्न डालते हैं, जो रजस्वला सत्रीका सेवन करते और शुल्क लेकर कन्या देते हैं, जो बहुतोंकी पुरोहिती करते, ब्राह्मण होकर सेवा-वृत्तिसे जीविका चलाते, मुँहमें मैथुन करते अथवा दिनमें स्त्री-सहवास करते हैं, जो ब्राह्मणको कुछ देनेकी प्रतिज्ञा करके फिर लोभवश नहीं देते हैं, उन सबको जिन लोकों अथवा दुर्गतिकी प्राप्ति होती है, उन्हींको मैं भी प्राप्त होऊँ; यदि कलतक जयद्रथको न मार डालूँ
arjuna uvāca | śītabhītāś ca ye viprā raṇabhītāś ca kṣatriyāḥ | yo brāhmaṇo bhūtvā śītād bibheti kṣatriyo bhūtvā raṇād bibheti | yasmin grāme ekakūpajalapānaṃ bhavati yatra ca kadācana vedamantradhvanir na bhavati | yeṣu sthāneṣu ṣaṇmāsān nivasanty ete | ye śāstranindāparā divā maithunaṃ kurvanti svapanti ca | ye pareṣāṃ gṛheṣv agniṃ dadhati pareṣāṃ ca viṣaṃ prayacchanti | ye kadācid agnihotraṃ nācaranti nātithīn satkurvanti ca gavāṃ pānapratibandhaṃ kurvanti | ye rajasvalāṃ striyaṃ sevante śulkādanyāṃ ca kanyāṃ dadati | ye bahūnāṃ paurohityaṃ kurvanti brāhmaṇāḥ santo dāsavṛttyā jīvikāṃ kurvanti | ye mukhamaithunaṃ kurvanti divā vā strīsaṃyogaṃ kurvanti | ye brāhmaṇāya dātum pratijñāya punar lobhān na dadati | teṣāṃ yān lokān yāṃ vā durgatiṃ prāpnuvanti tān lokān tāṃ durgatiṃ vāham api prāpnuyām | yadi śvo jayadrathaṃ na hanyām ||
Arjuna said: “May I fall into the very same worlds—or the same ruinous fate—that awaits those who betray their own station and sacred duty: brahmins who, though born to steadiness, tremble at hardship; kshatriyas who shrink from battle; those who live for months in places devoid of Vedic recitation and shared by a single well; those who delight in reviling the scriptures, who indulge in sex and sleep by day; those who set fire to others’ homes or poison others; those who neglect the agnihotra and fail to honor guests, who obstruct cattle from drinking; those who consort with a menstruating woman, or give a daughter in marriage for a fee; those who serve as priests for many indiscriminately, or brahmins who live by servile employment; those who practice perverse sexual acts or seek intercourse in daylight; and those who promise gifts to a brahmin and then, out of greed, do not give. If by tomorrow I do not slay Jayadratha, may that same disgrace and downfall be mine.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a warrior’s vow in moral terms: abandoning one’s svadharma (brahminical discipline or kshatriya courage), harming others, neglecting ritual and hospitality, and breaking promises are portrayed as causes of spiritual downfall. Arjuna stakes his own fate on fulfilling his duty-bound vow, underscoring accountability and the gravity of pledged action.
In the Drona Parva, after Abhimanyu’s death and Jayadratha’s role in trapping him, Arjuna makes a fierce public vow to kill Jayadratha by the next day. He invokes a catalogue of condemned behaviors and declares that if he fails, he deserves the same ruin as those sinners—intensifying the urgency and binding himself to the vow.