सो ऽयम् अस्मान् अनुप्राप्तो वारः कुलविनाशनः ॥
भोजनं पुरुषश् चैकः प्रदेयं वेतनं मया ॥
न च मे विद्यते वित्तं संक्रेतुं पुरुषं क्व चित् ॥
सुहृज्जनं प्रदातुं च न शक्ष्यामि कथं चन ॥
गतिं चापि न पश्यामि तस्मान् मोक्षाय रक्षसः ॥
so 'yam asmān anuprāpto vāraḥ kulavināśanaḥ ||
bhojanaṃ puruṣaś caikaḥ pradeyaṃ vetanaṃ mayā ||
na ca me vidyate vittaṃ saṃkretuṃ puruṣaṃ kva cit ||
suhṛjjanaṃ pradātuṃ ca na śakṣyāmi kathaṃ cana ||
gatiṃ cāpi na paśyāmi tasmān mokṣāya rakṣasaḥ ||
"Now this turn, ruinous for our family, has overtaken us: food and one man must be given by me as payment. I have no wealth anywhere to buy a man, and I shall in no way be able to give up someone dear to me; and I see no way to be freed from that rakshasa."
7c185576e064 · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:09:57 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here all the threads of hopelessness converge. The brahmin's nobility is significant even in his helplessness: he does not think of buying another's life, even had he the means, and he will not give up his own — both paths are equally impossible for him. Here is a purity of conscience that will not seek salvation at the cost of another's ruin: a poor man does not trade in anyone's life. It is significant that, having exhausted every path, he "sees no way": human reasoning is powerless here. Thus the verse shows a limit beyond which only a strength from outside can help; and this very utter hopelessness opens the place for the miracle that Kunti and Bhima will work.