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.
Sañjaya disse: “Ó Śalya, então aquele brâmane, enquanto eu andava sozinho num lugar apartado, veio até mim e disse: ‘Por negligência, mataste o bezerro da minha vaca sacrificial (homadhenu). Por isso, no exato momento em que, lutando no campo de batalha, fores tomado por extremo temor, nesse instante a roda do teu carro afundará num buraco.’ Por isso temo grandemente as palavras proferidas pelo brâmane; pois tais pronunciamentos são soberanos sobre a alegria e a dor.”
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.