Shloka 70

Śārṅgakānāṃ Avināśaḥ (Why the Śārṅga Birds Were Spared) | शार्ङ्गकानामविनाशः

Devanagari script

दयितो वासुदेवस्य बाल्यात्‌ प्रभूति चाभवत्‌ | पितृणामिव सर्वेषां प्रजानामिव चन्द्रमा:,जैसे समस्त पितरों और प्रजाओंको चन्द्रमा प्रिय लगते हैं, उसी प्रकार अभिमन्यु बचपनसे ही भगवान्‌ श्रीकृष्णका अत्यन्त प्रिय हो गया था

Transliteration

dayito vāsudevasya bālyāt prabhṛti cābhavat | pitṝṇām iva sarveṣāṁ prajānām iva candramāḥ |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Von Kindheit an wurde er Vasudeva (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) überaus lieb. Wie der Mond allen Pitṛs (Ahnen) und allen Wesen teuer ist, so wurde auch Abhimanyu behütet und geschätzt—eine Zuneigung von glückverheißender, schützender Art, nicht bloßes Anhängen.

Word by Word

दयितःbeloved, dear

वासुदेवस्यof Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

बाल्यात्from childhood

प्रभूतिonwards, from (that time) onward

चand

अभवत्became, was

पितृणाम्of the fathers/ancestors

इवlike, as if

सर्वेषाम्of all

प्रजानाम्of the subjects/people

इवlike, as if

चन्द्रमाःthe moon

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

Abhimanyu

Pitṛs

Candramā (the Moon)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the truly virtuous and promising are naturally cherished by the righteous: affection here signifies protective responsibility and auspicious regard, likened to the moon’s universally beneficent presence for ancestors and living beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes Abhimanyu’s relationship with Kṛṣṇa, stating that from childhood Abhimanyu became especially dear to Vāsudeva, using a simile of the moon beloved to all Pitṛs and all creatures.