Shloka 29
अर्जुनस्य सैन्धवाभिमुखगमनम् तथा विन्दानुविन्दयोर्वधः
Arjuna’s advance toward Saindhava and the fall of Vinda–Anuvinda
वेदोंका स्वाध्याय अथवा अत्यन्त कठोर व्रतका पालन करनेवाले श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्यणगकी तथा बड़े-बूढ़ों, साधु-पुरुषों और गुरुजनोंकी अवहेलना करनेवाला पुरुष जिन नरकोंमें पड़ता है, ब्राह्मण, गौ और अग्निको पैरसे छूनेवाले पुरुषकी जो गति होती है तथा जलमें थूक अथवा मल-मूत्र छोड़नेवालोंकी जो दुर्गति होती है, यदि मैं कल जयद्रथको न मारूँ तो उसी कष्टदायिनी गतिको मैं भी प्राप्त करूं
vedānāṁ svādhyāyam athavā atyanta-kaṭhora-vrata-pālanaṁ kurvatāṁ śreṣṭha-brāhmaṇānāṁ tathā vṛddhānāṁ sādhu-puruṣāṇāṁ guru-janānāṁ cāvamāna-kārī puruṣo yān narakān pratipadyate, brāhmaṇa-gāva-agni-pāda-sparśa-kāriṇaḥ puruṣasya yā gatir bhavati, jale tuṣṭhīvanaṁ vā mala-mūtra-visarjanaṁ kurvatāṁ yā durgatiḥ—yadi ahaṁ śvaḥ jayadrathaṁ na hanyām, tadā tāṁ kṛcchra-dāyinīṁ gatim aham api prāpnuyām.
Arjuna said: “The hells into which a man falls when he shows contempt for venerable elders, holy men, and teachers—indeed, even for eminent Brāhmaṇas devoted to Vedic study or to the observance of exceedingly austere vows; the wretched fate that befalls one who touches a Brāhmaṇa, a cow, or the sacred fire with his foot; and the miserable end of those who spit or discharge excrement and urine into water—if I do not slay Jayadratha tomorrow, may I too attain that same tormenting fate.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a warrior’s vow within a moral universe: contempt toward revered persons (Brāhmaṇas, elders, saints, teachers) and acts that violate sacred purity (dishonoring Brāhmaṇa/cow/fire; defiling water) lead to grievous consequences. Arjuna invokes these ethical standards to bind himself to truthfulness and resolve—staking his own spiritual fate on fulfilling his pledge.
In the aftermath of Abhimanyu’s death and Jayadratha’s role in it, Arjuna publicly commits to killing Jayadratha the next day. He intensifies the vow by declaring that failure would make him deserving of the same dreadful destinies reserved for severe transgressors, thereby making retreat impossible and heightening the dramatic stakes of the coming battle.