Mahabharata 7.17.31 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 17, Shloka 31
Saṃśaptakas in Candrārdha-vyūha; Arjuna’s Devadatta and the Traigarta Rout
Chapter 17
अगारदाहिनां चैव ये च गां निघ्नतामपि । अपकारिणां च ये लोका ये च ब्रह्मद्धिषामपि
agāradāhināṁ caiva ye ca gāṁ nighnatām api | apakāriṇāṁ ca ye lokā ye ca brahmadviṣām api ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Jika kami pulang tanpa membunuh Arjuna di medan perang, atau jika terluka oleh anak panahnya lalu berpaling daripada pertempuran kerana takut, maka kami akan sampai ke dunia-dunia berdosa itu juga—dunia yang menjadi bahagian pembakar rumah, pembunuh lembu, para pelaku kezaliman, bahkan mereka yang membenci kaum Brahmana.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Retreating from a righteous battle out of fear—especially without accomplishing the stated martial objective—is portrayed as a grave moral failure, likened to notorious sins (arson, cow-slaughter, harming others, hostility to Brahmins) that lead to degraded post-mortem realms.
Sañjaya reports a severe warning voiced within the Kaurava camp: if they fail to kill Arjuna and instead withdraw, broken by his arrows and fear, they believe they will incur the same dreadful fate as major sinners.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.