अर्जुनः सहसाज्ञाय हरेर्हार्दमथासिना ।
मणिं जहार मूर्धन्यं द्विजस्य सहमूर्धजम् ॥५५॥
sÅ«ta uvÄca
arjunaḥ sahasÄjñÄya
harer hÄrdam athÄsinÄ
maṇiá¹ jahÄra mÅ«rdhanyaá¹
dvijasya saha-mūrdhajam
sÅ«taḥ - SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ«; uvÄca - said; arjunaḥ - Arjuna; sahasÄ - just at that time; ÄjñÄya - knowing it; hareḥ - of the Lord; hÄrdam - motive; atha - thus; asinÄ - by the sword; maṇim - the jewel; jahÄra - separated; mÅ«rdhanyam - on the head; dvijasya - of the twice-born; saha - with; mÅ«rdhajam - hairs.
SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« said: Just then Arjuna could understand the motive of the Lord by His equivocal orders, and thus with his sword he severed both hair and jewel from the head of AÅ›vatthÄmÄ.
Contradictory orders of different persons are impossible to carry out. Therefore a compromise was selected by Arjuna by his sharp intelligence, and he separated the jewel from the head of AÅ›vatthÄmÄ. This was as good as cutting off his head, and yet his life was saved for all practical purposes. Here AÅ›vatthÄmÄ is indicated as twice-born. Certainly he was twice-born, but he fell down from his position, and therefore he was properly punished.
