आर्येण तु न वक्तव्या कदा चित् स्तुतिर् आत्मनः ॥
पितुर् वधम् अमृष्यंस् तु वक्ष्याम्य् अद्येह पौरुषम् ॥
अद्य पश्यन्तु मे वीर्यं पाण्डवाः सजनार्दनाः ॥
मृद्नतः सर्वसैन्यानि युगान्तम् इव कुर्वतः ॥
न हि देवा न गन्धर्वा नासुरा न च राक्षसाः ॥
अद्य शक्ता रणे जेतुं रथस्थं मां नरर्षभ ॥
āryeṇa tu na vaktavyā kadā cit stutir ātmanaḥ ||
pitur vadham amṛṣyaṃs tu vakṣyāmy adyeha pauruṣam ||
adya paśyantu me vīryaṃ pāṇḍavāḥ sajanārdanāḥ ||
mṛdnataḥ sarvasainyāni yugāntam iva kurvataḥ ||
na hi devā na gandharvā nāsurā na ca rākṣasāḥ ||
adya śaktā raṇe jetuṃ rathasthaṃ māṃ nararṣabha ||
Speaking in praise of oneself is never fitting for a noble man; but, unable to bear my father's slaying, I shall now speak here of my manhood. Now let the Pandavas together with Janardana [Krishna] behold my might, as I crush all their armies, making it as though it were the end of the age. For neither gods nor gandharvas, neither asuras nor rakshasas, are today able to overcome me in battle as I stand upon my chariot, O bull among men.
6e53e49e036a · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
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Ashvatthaman himself knows that self-praise is unworthy—and yet grief breaks even his own rule, giving vent to boasting. It is telling that he imagines himself unconquerable by gods and demons alike: rage swells the self past all bounds. The verse teaches that sorrow turned to fury breeds a pride that tramples even what a man himself holds true; and one who sets himself above the gods is already blinded—for such arrogance is inevitably followed by a fall.