Shloka 10
Mahāprasthānika-parva Adhyāya 2: The Northward March, Sight of Himavat and Meru, and the Sequential Falls
युधिछिर उवाच आत्मन: सदृशं प्राज्ञ नैषो5मन्यत कंचन । तेन दोषेण पतितस्तस्मादेष नृपात्मज:
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca ātmanaḥ sadṛśaṃ prājña naiṣo 'manyata kaṃcana | tena doṣeṇa patitas tasmād eṣa nṛpātmajaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “This prince did not regard anyone as equal to himself in wisdom. Because of that very fault he has fallen; therefore this royal son has met his downfall.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even genuine intelligence becomes a cause of ruin when it turns into pride—thinking no one equals oneself. The verse frames downfall as the ethical consequence of arrogance and lack of humility.
During the Mahāprasthāna, as the Pāṇḍavas proceed and one brother falls, Yudhiṣṭhira explains the moral reason behind the fall: this prince (identified in the tradition as Sahadeva) had the fault of considering none equal to himself in wisdom.