Shloka 39
Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement
अज्ञानद्धि क्षिपन् बाणान् घोररूपान् भयानकान् | होमधेन्वा वत्समस्य प्रमत्त इषुणाहनम्,“नरेश्वरर एक समयकी बात है, मैं शस्त्रोंके अभ्यासके लिये विजय नामक एक ब्राह्मणगके आश्रमके आसपास विचरण कर रहा था। उस समय घोर एवं भयंकर बाण चलाते हुए मैंने अनजानमें ही असावधानीके कारण उस ब्राह्मणकी होमधेनुके बछड़ेको एक बाणसे मार डाला
ajñānād dhi kṣipan bāṇān ghorarūpān bhayānakān | homadhenuvā vatsaṁ asya pramatta iṣuṇā ahanam ||
ด้วยความไม่รู้ ขณะยิงศรอันน่ากลัวและน่าสะพรึง ข้าพเจ้าก็เผลอประมาท และด้วยศรเพียงดอกเดียวได้สังหารลูกวัวของโหมธนูนั้น
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even unintended harm caused by carelessness is ethically weighty. Mastery of weapons demands restraint and vigilance; negligence that injures the innocent—especially what is protected by dharma, such as a Brahmin’s ritual property—creates serious moral consequence.
The speaker recounts an incident: while practicing and shooting frightening arrows, he unknowingly and through inattentiveness kills the calf of a Brahmin’s homadhenu with a single arrow, setting up the moral gravity of the act and its repercussions.