Shloka 67
Chapter 2: Sudarśana Upākhyāna — Atithi-Dharma and the Conquest of Mṛtyu
Gṛhastha-Vrata
कूटमुद्गरहस्तस्तु मृत्युस्तं वै समन्वगात् । हीनप्रतिज्ञमत्रैनं वधिष्यामीति चिन्तयन्
kūṭamudgarahastastu mṛtyus taṃ vai samanvagāt | hīnapratijñam atrainaṃ vadhiṣyāmīti cintayan |
ビーシュマは語った。死は重い鉄の棍棒を手に、彼のすぐ背後に迫っていた。「いまや彼は誓いを欠いた。ゆえにここで討ち倒してやろう」と思い、誓約の破れが彼を自らの過失の道義的帰結（業）へとさらす瞬間を狙って、死は身構えて立っていた。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical gravity of pratijñā (a vowed commitment): when one becomes hīna-pratijña (deficient in one’s vow), one becomes exposed to immediate moral and existential consequence—here dramatized as Death itself waiting to punish the lapse.
Bhīṣma narrates that Death, personified and armed with a heavy iron club, follows closely behind the person in question, poised to kill him the moment he breaks his vow—anticipating that the vow will fail and that this failure warrants instant retribution.