Shloka 673

गदायुद्धप्रतिज्ञा — The Vow and Terms of the Mace Duel

Devanagari script

अथवा निहतोअस्माभिव्रज लोकाननुत्तमान्‌ | या तो हमलोगोंको परास्त करके तुम्हीं इस पृथ्वीका शासन करो या हमारे हाथों मारे जाकर परम उत्तम लोकोंमें चले जाओ

Transliteration

athavā nihato 'smābhir vraja lokān anuttamān | yāto vā asmān parājitya tvam eva pṛthivīṁ śādhi ||

Translation

“Or else, if slain by us, go to the unsurpassed worlds. Otherwise, having defeated us, you yourself rule this earth.” Thus Yudhiṣṭhira frames the encounter as a stark ethical choice within kṣatriya-dharma: victory entails responsibility for just governance, while death in righteous battle is presented as a passage to exalted realms.

Word by Word

• athavā: or else
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: athavā

• nihataḥ: slain
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nihata
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• asmābhiḥ: by us
• asmābhiḥ: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad
• Form: —, Instrumental, Plural

• vraja: go
• Type: Verb
• Root: vraj
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• lokān: worlds/realms
• lokān: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• anuttamān: unsurpassed, supreme
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anuttama
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• pṛthivī (the earth/kingdom)
• lokāḥ (worlds/realms)