Shloka 10
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
यन्मां प्रार्थयसे हन्तुमनागसमिहागतम् । तस्मात् त्वां पूर्वमेवाहं नेताद्य यमसादनम्,“अरे! तू यहाँ आये हुए मुझ निरपराधको मारनेकी घातमें लगा है, इसीलिये मैं आज पहले ही तुझे यमलोक भेज दूँगा”
yan māṃ prārthayase hantum anāgasam ihāgatam | tasmāt tvāṃ pūrvam evāhaṃ netādya yamasādanam ||
“Since you are seeking to kill me—though I am innocent and have come here without hostility—therefore I shall send you first, this very day, to the abode of Yama.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical claim of innocence (anāgasa) against an aggressor’s intent to kill, and presents a retaliatory threat as a form of immediate retributive justice—highlighting how perceived adharma (unprovoked violence) is answered with decisive punishment.
A speaker confronts someone who has come with the intention of killing an innocent person who has arrived without hostile intent, and declares that, because of this murderous intent, the aggressor will be sent first—today itself—to Yama’s realm (i.e., killed).