Mahabharata 7.17.34 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 17, Shloka 34
Saṃśaptakas in Candrārdha-vyūha; Arjuna’s Devadatta and the Traigarta Rout
Chapter 17
नास्तिकानां च ये लोका येडग्निमातृपितृत्यजाम् । (सस्यमाक्रमतां ये च प्रत्यादित्यं प्रमेहताम् ।) तानाप्नुयामहे लोकान् ये च पापकृतामपि
nāstikānāṁ ca ye lokā ye ’gnimātṛpitṛtyajām | (sasyam ākrāmatāṁ ye ca pratyādityaṁ pramehatām) tān āpnuyāmahe lokān ye ca pāpakṛtām api ||
सञ्जय उवाच—यदि वयं युद्धे अर्जुनं निहत्य न निवर्तेम, अथवा तस्य शरैर्विद्धाः भयात् संग्रामात् पराङ्मुखा भवेम, तदा वयं तान् एव पापलोकान् प्राप्नुयाम—ये नास्तिकानां, येऽग्निमातृपितृत्यजां, ये सस्यमाक्रमन्ति, ये च प्रत्यादित्यं प्रमेहन्ति; तथा पापकृतां ये लोकाः।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames cowardly retreat from a righteous battle as a grave moral failure, invoking a self-curse: such conduct deserves the same dire post-mortem realms as acts that violate fundamental social and ritual duties (reverence to parents, maintenance of sacred fire, and basic norms of purity and non-harm).
In the Drona Parva’s battle setting, the speaker (reported by Sañjaya) expresses a vow-like resolve: returning without killing Arjuna, or turning back in fear after being struck by his arrows, is declared shameful and spiritually ruinous—equated with the fate of notorious wrongdoers.
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