Shloka 49

Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement

Devanagari script

मा त्वं ब्रह्मग॒तिं हिंस्या: प्रायश्षित्तं कृतं त्वया । मद्वाक्यं नानृतं लोके कश्ित्‌ कुर्यात्‌ समाप्लुहि,“तुम (लोभ देकर) ब्राह्मणकी उत्तम गतिका विनाश न करो। तुमने पश्चात्ताप और दानद्वारा उस वत्सवथका प्रायश्चित्त कर लिया। जगतमें कोई भी मेरे कहे हुए वचनको मिथ्या नहीं कर सकता; इसलिये मेरा शाप तुझे प्राप्त होगा ही'

Transliteration

mā tvaṃ brahmagatiṃ hiṃsyāḥ prāyaścittaṃ kṛtaṃ tvayā | madvākyaṃ nānṛtaṃ loke kaścit kuryāt samāpluhi ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Do not, by offering greed, bring about the ruin of a brāhmaṇa’s highest destiny. You have already made expiation for that deed through repentance and gifts. In this world no one can render my spoken word untrue; therefore my curse will surely come upon you.”

Word by Word

• {'mā': 'do not (prohibitive particle)', 'tvam': 'you', 'brahma-gatim': 'the brāhmaṇa’s supreme course/destiny

• the highest spiritual state', 'hiṃsyāḥ (hiṃsīḥ)': 'you should harm/destroy', 'prāyaścittam': 'expiation, atonement', 'kṛtam': 'done, performed', 'tvayā': 'by you', 'mad-vākyam': 'my statement/word', 'na anṛtam': 'not false, not untrue', 'loke': 'in the world', 'kaścit': 'anyone, someone', 'kuryāt': 'could make/do', 'samāpluhi': 'therefore/accordingly

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• brāhmaṇa (as a class/ethical subject)
• śāpa (curse, as an object/force)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses that ethical harm—especially corrupting or damaging a brāhmaṇa’s spiritual standing through greed—has grave consequences; even when expiation has been performed, the moral force of a spoken truth/curse is presented as inescapable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a warning: the addressee is told not to destroy a brāhmaṇa’s ‘highest destiny’ by tempting with greed; although atonement has been done through repentance and gifts, Sañjaya asserts that his utterance cannot be made false, so the curse will inevitably take effect.