Shloka 42
Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement
“शल्य! तब उस ब्राह्मणने एकान्तमें घूमते हुए मुझसे आकर कहा--*तुमने प्रमादवश मेरी होमधेनुके बछड़ेको मार डाला है। इसलिये तुम जिस समय रणक्षेत्रमें युद्ध करते-करते अत्यन्त भयको प्राप्त होओ उसी समय तुम्हारे रथका पहिया गड्ढेमें गिर जाय” ।।
śalya! tadā sa brāhmaṇa ekānte paribhraman mām upetya uvāca— tvayā pramādavaśān mama homadhenoḥ batsaḥ hataḥ; tasmāt tvaṁ yasmin kāle raṇakṣetre yuddhyamānaḥ atyanta-bhayaṁ prāpsyasi tasminn eva kāle tava rathasya cakraṁ gartte nipatiṣyati iti. tasmād bibhemi balavad brāhmaṇa-vyāhṛtād aham; ete hi somarājān īśvarāḥ sukha-duḥkhayoḥ.
Sanjaya berkata: “Wahai Śalya, kemudian brahmana itu, ketika aku berjalan seorang diri di tempat sunyi, datang kepadaku dan berkata: ‘Kerana kecuaian, engkau telah membunuh anak lembu lembu korban suci (homadhenu) milikku. Maka, pada saat engkau bertempur di medan perang dan dilanda ketakutan yang paling dahsyat, pada saat itulah roda keretamu akan terbenam ke dalam lubang.’ Oleh itu aku sangat gentar akan kata-kata yang diucapkan brahmana itu; kerana ucapan sedemikian berdaulat atas suka dan duka.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Negligent harm done to what is protected and sacred (here, a Brahmin’s sacrificial cow’s calf) generates moral consequence that can ripen at a critical moment. The passage underscores the Mahabharata’s ethic that careless wrongdoing, especially against dharmic persons and ritual property, returns as fate-like obstruction in war.
Sanjaya recounts to Shalya a prior incident: a Brahmin confronts him (or the referenced warrior) and pronounces a curse that, at the moment of greatest fear during battle, the chariot wheel will sink into a pit. Sanjaya then admits his strong fear of that utterance, treating the Brahmin’s words as determinative of future joy and sorrow.