Shloka 9
सहदेव-दक्षिण-दिग्विजयः — Sahadeva’s Southern Conquest and the Māhiṣmatī–Agni Encounter
पार्थ नेदं त्वया शक््यं पुरं जेतुं कथंचन । उपावर्तस्व कल्याण पर्याप्तमिदमच्युत,'पार्थ! इस नगरको तुम किसी तरह जीत नहीं सकते। कल्याणस्वरूप अर्जुन! यहाँसे लौट जाओ। अच्युत! तुम यहाँतक आ गये, यही बहुत हुआ। जो मनुष्य इस नगरमें प्रवेश करता है, निश्चय ही उसकी मृत्यु हो जाती है। वीर! हम तुमसे बहुत प्रसन्न हैं। यहाँतक आ पहुँचना ही तुम्हारी बहुत बड़ी विजय है
pārtha nedaṁ tvayā śakyaṁ puraṁ jetuṁ kathaṁcana | upāvartasva kalyāṇa paryāptam idam acyuta ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Pārtha, you cannot conquer this city by any means. Turn back, O auspicious one. O Acyuta, it is enough that you have come this far.” The sense is a grave warning: entry into this city is treated as fatal, and thus prudence and the preservation of life are upheld over reckless heroism; reaching the threshold itself is acknowledged as a significant achievement.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes discernment in action: valor is not mere recklessness. When a task is declared impossible or fatally destructive, dharma may lie in restraint and withdrawal, and in recognizing that reaching a perilous boundary can itself be a meaningful accomplishment.
The narrator reports a warning addressed to Arjuna (Pārtha), also invoking Acyuta (Kṛṣṇa): the city cannot be conquered, so Arjuna is urged to turn back. The broader passage frames entry as leading to certain death and praises Arjuna for having come so far.