Mahabharata 9.61.286 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 61, Shloka 286
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
कि न विज्ञातमेतन्मे यदर्जुनमवोच था: । 'भीमसेनको मेरी जाँघें तोड़ डालनेका मिथ्या स्मरण दिलाते हुए तुमने अर्जुनसे जो कुछ कहा था, क्या वह मुझे ज्ञात नहीं है?
kiṁ na vijñātam etan me yad arjunam avoca thāḥ | bhīmasenako merī jāṅghẽ toṛ ḍālne-kā mithyā smaraṇa dilāte hue tumne arjunase jo kuch kahā thā, kyā vah mujhe jñāt nahīṁ hai?
ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನನಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯದ ವಿಷಯವೇನಾದರೂ ಇದೆಯೇ? ಭೀಮಸೇನನು ನನ್ನ ತೊಡೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮುರಿಯುವೆನೆಂದು ಮಾಡಿದ ಪ್ರತಿಜ್ಞೆಯನ್ನು ಸುಳ್ಳಾಗಿ ನೆನಪಿಸಿ, ಆ ನೆಪದಲ್ಲಿ ನೀನು ಅರ್ಜುನನಿಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದದ್ದೆಲ್ಲ—ಅದು ನನಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯದೆಯೇ?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between truth and strategic speech in war: invoking a vow through false remembrance is portrayed as morally suspect, and the narrator underscores accountability—words spoken to incite violence are not hidden from informed witnesses.
Sanjaya, the eyewitness narrator, states that he knows what was said to Arjuna—specifically, that someone prompted Arjuna by (falsely) reminding him of Bhima’s vow to break the opponent’s thighs, and Sanjaya challenges the idea that such instigation could be unknown to him.
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