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, जिस महामना वीरका यह भयंकर व्रत था कि “मैं जबतक अर्जुनको मार नहीं लूँगा, तबतक दूसरोंसे अपने पैर नहीं धुलाऊँगा'

Transliteration

iti yasya mahāghoraṁ vratam āsīn mahātmanaḥ |

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说道：“那位大心英雄立下了极其可怖的誓愿。我看不出他覆灭还有别的缘由，唯此而已：他以骇人的决意自缚——‘在我未杀阿周那之前，我决不让任何他人替我洗足。’”

Word by Word

इतिthus

यस्यof whom/whose

महाघोरम्very terrible

व्रतम्vow

आसीत्was

महात्मनःof the great-souled (man)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Arjuna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

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.