Shloka 563
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
इति यस्य महाघोरं व्रतमासीन्महात्मन: । उसके नष्ट होनेमें और कोई कारण मुझे नहीं दिखायी देता है
iti yasya mahāghoraṁ vratam āsīn mahātmanaḥ |
वैशम्पायन उवाच—एवं तस्य महात्मनः परमघोरं व्रतमासीद्। तस्य विनाशस्याहं नान्यं कारणं पश्यामि—स हि दारुणेन निश्चयेन बद्धोऽभवत्—“यावदर्जुनं न हनिष्यामि, तावदन्येन मम पादौ न प्रक्षालयितव्यौ” इति।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A rigid, ego-driven vow (vrata) can become self-destructive when it overrides prudence and dharma. The passage frames the hero’s downfall as arising chiefly from an extreme resolve, illustrating how obsession with a single aim—especially in war—can narrow judgment and invite ruin.
Vaiśampāyana comments on a warrior’s fate, pointing to his ‘mahāghora’ vow as the decisive cause. The vow is described as: until he kills Arjuna, he will not allow others to wash his feet—an emblem of uncompromising determination that the narrator treats as a key factor in his destruction.