Арджуна
अहो वः पौरुषं नास्ति न च वो ऽस्ति पराक्रमः ॥
यत्राभिमन्युः समरे पश्यतां वो निपातितः ॥
आत्मानम् एव गर्हेयं यद् अहं वः सुदुर्बलान् ॥
युष्मान् आज्ञाय निर्यातो भीरून् अकृतनिश्रमान् ॥
आहो स्विद् भूषणार्थाय वर्मशस्त्रायुधानि वः ॥
वाचश् च वक्तुं संसत्सु मम पुत्रम् अरक्षताम् ॥
aho vaḥ pauruṣaṃ nāsti na ca vo 'sti parākramaḥ ||
yatrābhimanyuḥ samare paśyatāṃ vo nipātitaḥ ||
ātmānam eva garheyaṃ yad ahaṃ vaḥ sudurbalān ||
yuṣmān ājñāya niryāto bhīrūn akṛtaniśramān ||
āho svid bhūṣaṇārthāya varmaśastrāyudhāni vaḥ ||
vācaś ca vaktuṃ saṃsatsu mama putram arakṣatām ||
"Alas, there is no courage in you, and no valor in you, if Abhimanyu was struck down before your eyes in the fight. I would reproach myself, that I, having recognized you as so weak, faint-hearted, showing no zeal, still departed. Or else are your armor and weapons only for show, and your speech only for assemblies — you who did not protect my son?"
c1f6d76f71a4 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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The anger reaches its bitterest pitch: "bhūṣaṇārthāya varmaśastrāyudhāni… vācaḥ ca vaktuṃ saṃsatsu" — the accusation that their armor is only for show, their valor only in speeches at assemblies. This is unjust, and the reader knows the comrades fought desperately; but grief does not judge soberly. It is telling that Arjuna spares not even himself — "ātmānam eva garheyam". These words are the cry of a wound, not a verdict. The verse teaches us to distinguish the speech of grief from the speech of truth: one grieving may hurl at those near him what they do not deserve, and one who loves must hear the pain without mistaking its injustice for truth.