Mahabharata — Sabha Parva, Shloka 2

Samrāt-Lakṣaṇa and the Counsel to Check Jarāsandha (सम्राट्-लक्षणं जरासन्ध-प्रतिबाधा-परामर्शः)

Devanagari script

जामदग्न्येन रामेण क्षत्रं यदवशेषितम्‌ । तस्मादवरजं लोके यदिदं क्षत्रसंज्ञितम्‌

Transliteration

jāmadagnyena rāmeṇa kṣatraṁ yad avaśeṣitam | tasmād avarajaṁ loke yad idaṁ kṣatra-saṁjñitam ||

Translation

قال كريشنا: «إن ما تبقّى من طبقة الكشترية بعد أن أفنى راما جامدغنيا (باراشوراما) الكشترية—فما يُسمّى اليوم في العالم “كشترية” إنما هو، لذلك، بقايا متأخرة أدنى منزلة. لقد نجا من نجا بالاختباء؛ ومن ثمّ فالكشترية في هذا العصر ليسوا إلا امتدادًا منقوصًا للسلالة الأولى».

Word by Word

• {'jāmadagnya': 'descendant of Jamadagni

• epithet of Paraśurāma', 'rāmaḥ (jāmadagnya-rāmaḥ)': 'Rama, i.e., Paraśurāma', 'kṣatram': 'the Kshatriya estate/order

• royal warrior class', 'yad': 'which

• whatever', 'avaśeṣitam': 'left remaining

• that which survived', 'tasmāt': 'therefore

• from that cause', 'avarajam': 'later-born

• of lower rank compared to predecessors', 'loke': 'in the world

• among people', 'idam': 'this (present, current)', 'kṣatra-saṁjñitam': 'called/known as ‘Kshatriya’ (bearing the designation kṣatra)'}

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Kṛṣṇa
• Rāma Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma)
• Kṣatriyas (kṣatra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the present Kshatriya order as a diminished remnant after Paraśurāma’s earlier purge, implying a decline in the quality and authority of the warrior class and inviting reflection on how social titles can persist even when the original standards of dharma and excellence have weakened.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛṣṇa refers to the legendary episode of Paraśurāma’s destruction of Kshatriyas and explains that those who survived did so by concealment; hence, the Kshatriyas of the current age are described as later-born and inferior compared to the earlier Kshatriya stock.