Mahabharata 7.33.9 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 33, Shloka 9
Abhimanyu-śravaṇa-prastāva and Cakravyūha-vinyāsa
Prelude to Abhimanyu’s Account and the Wheel-Formation Deployment
वरं दत्त्वा मम प्रीतः पश्चाद् विकृतवानसि । आशाभड़ूं न कुर्वन्ति भक्तस्यार्या: कंचन
varaṁ dattvā mama prītaḥ paścād vikṛtavān asi | āśābhaṅgaṁ na kurvanti bhaktasyāryāḥ kañcana ||
Dijo Sañjaya: «Complacido, primero me concediste un don, y después lo revocaste. Pero los nobles jamás, de modo alguno, quiebran la esperanza de quien les es devoto».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical ideal: noble people do not break the hope of a devoted person. It implies that granting a boon or assurance creates a moral obligation, and reversing it is contrary to ārya-dharma (the conduct of the honorable).
Sañjaya speaks in a tone of reproach: he recalls that someone, pleased, granted him a boon earlier but later changed or withdrew it. He appeals to the standard of noble conduct—especially toward a loyal devotee—to argue that such a reversal should not occur.
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