Mahabharata 7.74.44 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 74, Shloka 44
अर्जुनस्य सैन्धवाभिमुखगमनम् तथा विन्दानुविन्दयोर्वधः
Arjuna’s advance toward Saindhava and the fall of Vinda–Anuvinda
ब्राह्मणस्य प्रतिश्रुत्य यो वै लोभाद् ददाति न । तेषां गतिं गमिष्यामि श्वो न हन्यां जयद्रथम्
arjuna uvāca | brāhmaṇasya pratiśrutya yo vai lobhād dadāti na | teṣāṃ gatiṃ gamiṣyāmi śvo na hanyāṃ jayadratham ||
Arjuna said: “Whoever, after promising a gift to a Brahmin, does not give it out of greed—may I attain the very same fate that such people attain, if by tomorrow I do not slay Jayadratha.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the gravity of breaking a pledged gift—especially a promised donation to a Brahmin—out of greed. Arjuna invokes that morally condemned fate upon himself as a self-imposed sanction, highlighting that vows (pratiśruti) and integrity are binding within dharma.
In the aftermath of Abhimanyu’s death, Arjuna has sworn to kill Jayadratha within a fixed time. Here he intensifies his oath by declaring that if he fails to slay Jayadratha by the next day, he accepts the same dire destiny as those who promise a gift to a Brahmin and then withhold it out of greed.
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