Shloka 10

जयद्रथवध-प्रतिज्ञा

Arjuna’s Vow to Neutralize Jayadratha

Devanagari script

अहमेव सुभद्राया: केशवार्जुनयोरपि । प्रियकामो जयाकाडुक्षी कृतवानिदमप्रियम्‌,“मैंने ही अपने प्रिय कार्यकी इच्छा, विजयकी अभिलाषा रखकर सुभद्रा, श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनका यह अप्रिय कार्य किया है

Transliteration

aham eva subhadrāyāḥ keśavārjunayor api | priyakāmo jayākāṅkṣī kṛtavān idam apriyam ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「ただ私一人が——愛すべきことを成し遂げたいという思いと、勝利への渇望に駆られて——スバドラに対して、さらにはケーシャヴァ（クリシュナ）とアルジュナに対してさえ、この不快なる仕打ちを招いたのだ。」

Word by Word

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहम्
• Form: common, nominative, singular

• एव: indeed/alone
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• सुभद्रायाः: of Subhadrā
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुभद्रा
• Form: feminine, genitive, singular

• केशव: of Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशव
• Form: masculine, genitive, singular

• अर्जुनयोः: of (the two) Arjuna(s) / of Arjuna (dual form used in coordination)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्जुन
• Form: masculine, genitive, dual

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• प्रियकामः: desiring what is dear (seeking a desired end)
• प्रियकामः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रियकाम
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• जयाकाङ्क्षी: desiring victory
• जयाकाङ्क्षी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जयाकाङ्क्षिन्
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• कृतवान्: has done/did
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: perfect (periphrastic), third, singular, masculine

• इदम्: this
• इदम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• अप्रियम्: unpleasant/disagreeable
• अप्रियम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अप्रिय
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Subhadrā
• Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)
• Arjuna

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds moral accountability: the speaker does not shift blame to fate or others, but admits that personal desire (priyakāma) and ambition for victory (jayākāṅkṣā) can lead one to commit actions that harm even those one reveres—an ethical warning about unchecked ends-justify-means thinking.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya speaks in the first person, acknowledging that he himself caused an act that proved displeasing to Subhadrā and also to Kṛṣṇa (Keśava) and Arjuna, and he identifies his motives as the wish to secure a favored outcome and the craving for victory.