Shloka 9
Mahāprasthānika-parva Adhyāya 2: The Northward March, Sight of Himavat and Meru, and the Sequential Falls
यो5यमस्मासु सर्वेषु शुश्रूषुरनहंकृत: । सो<थयं माद्रवतीपुत्र: कस्मान् निपतितो भुवि,“भैया! जो सदा हमलोगोंकी सेवा किया करता था और जिसमें अहंकारका नाम भी नहीं था, यह माद्रीनन्दन सहदेव किस दोषके कारण धराशायी हुआ है?”
yo ’yam asmāsu sarveṣu śuśrūṣur anahaṅkṛtaḥ | so ’thayaṃ mādravatīputraḥ kasmān nipatito bhuvi ||
വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—സഹോദരാ! എപ്പോഴും ഞങ്ങളൊക്കെയുടെയും ശുശ്രൂഷയിൽ ലീനനായി, അഹങ്കാരത്തിന്റെ ലേശവും ഇല്ലാത്ത ഈ മാദ്രിപുത്രൻ സഹദേവൻ ഏതു ദോഷം മൂലം ഭൂമിയിൽ വീണു?
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even conspicuous virtues like service and humility do not erase the subtle workings of past faults; the passage prompts ethical self-examination—asking what hidden lapse (doṣa) can bring a fall, especially at the end-of-life journey where inner truth is tested.
During the Pāṇḍavas’ final journey (mahāprasthāna), Sahadeva collapses. The narrator’s line highlights Sahadeva’s well-known qualities—devoted service and lack of pride—then raises the pressing question: what specific fault caused his fall.