Shloka 73
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
हन्यामहं केशव तं प्रसहा भीमो हन्यात् तूबरकेति चोक्त: । तन्मे राजा प्रोक्तवांस्ते समक्ष॑ धनुर्देहीत्यसकृद् वृष्णिवीर
arjuna uvāca | hanyām ahaṃ keśava taṃ prasahā bhīmo hanyāt tūbaraketi coktaḥ | tan me rājā proktavāṃs te samakṣaṃ dhanur dehīty asakṛd vṛṣṇivīra ||
Arjuna nói: “Hỡi Keśava, kẻ nào nói với ta điều như thế, ta sẽ dùng sức mà đánh chết. Bhīma cũng sẽ giết bất cứ ai gọi chàng là ‘tūbaraka’ (kẻ không râu). Bởi nhà vua (Yudhiṣṭhira) đã nhiều lần nói với ta—ngay trước mặt ngài, hỡi dũng sĩ dòng Vṛṣṇi—rằng: ‘Hãy trao cây cung của ngươi cho người khác.’”
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how rigid vows tied to personal honor can collide with dharma when spoken words provoke violence. It implicitly raises the ethical question: should one be bound to a rash vow, or should restraint and discernment override pride—especially among allies in a righteous cause.
Arjuna tells Kṛṣṇa that he has a vow to kill anyone who orders him to give away his bow, and he notes a similar vow of Bhīma regarding an insulting epithet. He then points out that Yudhiṣṭhira has repeatedly told him—right in Kṛṣṇa’s presence—to give away his bow, creating a dangerous moral and emotional crisis within the Pāṇḍava camp.