Shloka 15
Aśvatthāman’s Admonition to Karṇa on Boasting, Varṇa-Duties, and the Threat of Arjuna
Virāṭa-parva, Adhyāya 45
नास्मि क्लीबो महाबाहो परवान् धर्मसंयुतः । समाप्तव्रतमुत्तीर्ण विद्धि मां त्वं नृपात्मज,महाबाहो! मैं बड़े भाईकी आज्ञासे इस वर्ष एक व्रतका पालन कर रहा था। उस व्रतकी जो दिनचर्या है, उसके अनुसार मैं नपुंसक बनकर रहा हूँ। मैं तुमसे यह सच्ची बात कह रहा हूँ। वास्तवमें मैं नपुंसक नहीं हूँ; भाईकी आज्ञाके अधीन होकर धर्मके पालनमें तत्पर रहा हूँ। राजकुमार! तुम्हें मालूम होना चाहिये कि अब मेरा व्रत समाप्त हो गया है; अतः मैं नपुंसकभावके कष्टसे भी मुक्त हो चुका हूँ
arjuna uvāca | nāsmi klībo mahābāho paravān dharmasaṁyutaḥ | samāptavratam uttīrṇaṁ viddhi māṁ tvaṁ nṛpātmaja ||
Arjuna said: “O mighty-armed prince, I am not an impotent person. Bound by another’s command and committed to dharma, I was observing a vow for this year in the manner prescribed, living in the guise of a eunuch. Know that my vow is now completed and I have come through it; therefore understand me as freed from that assumed condition.”
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as disciplined fidelity to a rightful obligation: Arjuna clarifies that an outwardly humiliating role was accepted under command as part of a vow, and that truth should be stated plainly when the time for concealment ends.
Arjuna, who has been living incognito in Virāṭa’s court in a eunuch-like persona, speaks to the prince (Uttara) to explain that he is not truly a klība; he had adopted that mode due to a vow and obedience to another’s directive, and now that the vow is complete he can disclose the reality.