Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.89.29
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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rakṣiṣye
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I shall protect
Future of √rakṣ (to protect). The kṣatriya's signature verb. Arjuna takes the verb on himself — and the chapter will show, gently and decisively, that the subject of rakṣiṣye is finally Kṛṣṇa.
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anistīrṇa-pratijñaḥ
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one whose vow is unfulfilled
Compound: a-nistīrṇa (not-completed) + pratijñā (vow). Names the dishonor Arjuna would incur. Gauḍīyas note: the device is exact — a vow uncompletable by Arjuna alone, completed only by Kṛṣṇa.
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agnim-pravekṣye
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I shall enter fire
Future of pra + √viś (to enter). The kṣatriya's atonement for a broken vow. The phrase recurs at verse 43–44 — the Bhāgavatam returns to this exact verb when Arjuna actually moves to enact it.
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hata-kalmaṣaḥ
—
with sin removed
Compound: hata (struck) + kalmaṣa (impurity). Arjuna intends the agni-praveśa to expiate the broken vow. The verse's grammar is sober — he is not threatening, he is committing.
Chivalrous Arjuna could not tolerate the shame of being unable to fulfill his promise. As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (2.34) , sambhāvitasya cākīrtir maraṇād atiricyate: “For a respected person, dishonor is worse than death.”
Arjuna addresses the husband and wife (vam). Though the wife was present she was silent because of her grief. "If I break my promise (anistirna pratijnah), then I will enter the fire, and will be free of the fault of breaking my promise (hata kalmasah)."
He speaks to the brāhmaṇa and his wife. Out of great lamentation the wife had also come. Or she came together with him to show their suffering to others. I will enter fire to become free of sin of hearing a brāhmaṇa lament. Or I will enter fire because of not being free of sin (ahata-kalmasaḥ). Or, the sentence should be completed as follows. Hata-kalmaṣaḥ syām: I will thus be freed of sin.
I will protect the progeny of you two (vaḥ). The wife came there out of great grief or she came with him so others would believe her husband. Arjuna addresses the brāhmaṇa as bhagavān to show great respect. Anistīrṇa-pratijña means “a promise is not crossed over.” It was great like the ocean. If I cannot keep the promise I will enter fire. By entering fire I will be free of the sin of breaking his promise. Or just on entering fire, his sin would be destroyed.
- What recent promise of mine had no real stake behind it?
- Where could attaching a cost transform my commitment from word to action?
Arjuna's promise is unconditional: 'If I fail, I enter fire.' This is the kṣatriya's irrevocable vow — pratijñā with one's own life as collateral. The chapter is now committed; either Arjuna succeeds, or he immolates himself. The Bhāgavatam loves these zero-degree commitments because they expose dependence on Bhagavān.
On the seventeenth day of Kurukṣetra, Bhīṣma vowed to make Arjuna fight at full force or himself give up his bow. Arjuna in turn vowed to kill Jayadratha before sundown or enter the fire — the same agni-praveśa-pratijñā Arjuna takes here.
In both cases Kṛṣṇa is the silent guarantor. Mahābhārata records that He covered the sun to bring out Jayadratha; here in SB 10.89 He will Himself drive the chariot beyond the cosmic darkness. Gauḍīyas read every Arjuna-pratijñā as in fact a Kṛṣṇa-pratijñā.
My note
Source: vedabase.io