Shloka 4
Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement
अवसं वै ब्राह्मणच्छगनाहं रामे पुरा दिव्यमस्त्रं चिकीर्षु: तत्रापि मे देवराजेन विध्नो हितार्थिना फाल्गुनस्यैव शल्य
sañjaya uvāca | avasaṃ vai brāhmaṇacchaganāhaṃ rāme purā divyam astraṃ cikīrṣuḥ | tatrāpi me devarājena vidhno hitārthinā phālgunasyaiva śalya ||
سنجے نے کہا—قدیم زمانے میں، الٰہی ہتھیار حاصل کرنے کی خواہش سے میں برہمن کا بھیس بنا کر رام (پرشورام) کے پاس رہا۔ اے شلیہ! وہاں بھی پھالگن (ارجن) کی بھلائی چاہنے والے دیوراج اندر نے میرے کام میں رکاوٹ ڈال دی۔
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how personal ambition pursued through deception (a false Brahmin identity) becomes vulnerable to moral and cosmic checks: divine powers may intervene to uphold a larger dharmic balance and protect a destined order (here, Arjuna’s advantage), showing that ends do not fully justify unethical means.
Sanjaya recounts an earlier episode: Karna, seeking celestial weapons, stayed with Parashurama disguised as a Brahmin. Indra, intent on Arjuna’s welfare, created an impediment to Karna’s aim—setting up the later incident (expanded in the surrounding passage) that leads to Karna’s setback in acquiring or retaining those weapons.