Shloka 3
Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement
तौ चाप्यहं शस्त्रभृतां वरिष्ठौ व्यपेतभीर्योधयिष्यामि कृष्णौ । संतापयत्यभ्यधिकं नु रामा- च्छापोउ्द्य मां ब्राह्मणसत्तमाच्च,वे दोनों कृष्ण शस्त्रधारियोंमें श्रेष्ठ हैं तो भी मैं उनके साथ निर्भय होकर युद्ध करूँगा। परंतु परशुरामजीसे तथा एक ब्राह्मणशिरोमणिसे मुझे जो शाप प्राप्त हुआ है, वह आज मुझे अधिक संताप दे रहा है
tau cāpy ahaṁ śastrabhṛtāṁ variṣṭhau vyapetabhīr yodhayīṣyāmi kṛṣṇau | saṁtāpayaty abhyadhikaṁ nu rāmāc chāpo ’dyamāṁ brāhmaṇasattamāc ca ||
Sañjaya said: “Though those two Kṛṣṇas are foremost among weapon-bearers, I shall still fight them without fear. Yet today the curse I received from Rāma (Paraśurāma) and from a most eminent brāhmaṇa torments me all the more.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one resolves to act bravely in accordance with a warrior’s role, past unethical choices and their karmic consequences—here expressed as curses—can reassert themselves at the decisive moment, reminding that valor alone cannot erase moral causality.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s stance: he claims fearlessness in facing the formidable pair—Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna—yet admits inner distress because the curses received from Paraśurāma and from an eminent brāhmaṇa are now bearing down upon him as the battle reaches a critical point.