Shloka 563

अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः

Devanagari script

इति यस्य महाघोरं व्रतमासीन्महात्मन: । उसके नष्ट होनेमें और कोई कारण मुझे नहीं दिखायी देता है

Transliteration

iti yasya mahāghoraṁ vratam āsīn mahātmanaḥ |

Translation

Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Ganyan ang labis na kakila-kilabot na panata ng bayaning may dakilang loob. Wala akong nakikitang ibang sanhi ng kanyang kapahamakan kundi ito: iginapos niya ang sarili sa isang nakapanghihilakbot na pasiya—‘Hangga’t hindi ko napapatay si Arjuna, hindi ko ipapahugas ang aking mga paa sa sinumang iba.’”

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• यस्य: of whom/whose
• यस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• महाघोरम्: very terrible
• महाघोरम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाघोर
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• व्रतम्: vow
• व्रतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्रत
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• आसीत्: was
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• महात्मनः: of the great-souled (man)
• महात्मनः: Sambandha
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: महात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Arjuna

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.