Shloka 13
Janmaveśma-praveśa and Uttarā’s Śaraṇāgati
Entry into the Birth-Chamber and Uttarā’s Appeal
यद्येतत् त्वं प्रतिश्रुत्य न करोषि वच: शुभम् | सकल वृष्णिशार्दूल मृतां मामवधारय,*वृष्णिवंशके सिंह! यदि तुम ऐसी प्रतिज्ञा करके अपने मंगलमय वचनका पूर्णतः पालन नहीं करोगे तो यह समझ लो, सुभद्रा जीवित नहीं रहेगी--मैं अपने प्राण दे दूँगी
yady etat tvaṁ pratiśrutya na karoṣi vacaḥ śubham | sakala-vṛṣṇi-śārdūla mṛtāṁ mām avadhāraya ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “If, after making this promise, you do not carry out your auspicious word, then know this for certain, O tiger among the Vṛṣṇis: I shall be as good as dead.” The utterance underscores the binding force of a pledged word and the moral gravity of failing one’s vow—so grave that the speaker stakes life itself upon its fulfillment.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A pledged word (pratiśruti) is treated as a moral bond; failing to fulfill it is portrayed as a serious breach of dharma, weighty enough that the speaker equates it with death or total ruin.
The narrator reports a forceful warning addressed to a Vṛṣṇi hero: if he does not honor a promise he has made, the speaker declares that her life will not continue—an extreme statement meant to compel faithful performance of the vow.