Shloka 21

Devanagari script

तुम्हारे हितके लिये मैंने ही युद्धके मुहानेपर उसे मार डाला था। पराक्रमी चेदिराज शिशुपाल तो तुम्हारी आँखोंके सामने ही मारा गया था

Transliteration

tumhāre hitake liye mayāiva yuddhasya mukhāne ’para sa māritaḥ. parākramī cedirājaḥ śiśupālaḥ tu tumhākaṃ cakṣuṣoḥ samakṣam eva māritaḥ

Translation

Zu deinem Wohl habe ich ihn selbst am Eingang der Schlacht niedergestreckt. Und der tapfere König von Cedi, Śiśupāla, wurde vor deinen eigenen Augen erschlagen.

Word by Word

तुम्हारेof you / for you

हितस्यof welfare / benefit

कृतेfor the sake of

मयाby me

एवindeed / only

युद्धस्यof battle

मुखेat the front / at the mouth (opening)

तम्him

हतवान्having slain / killed

अस्मिI am

पराक्रमीvaliant

चेदिराजःthe king of Cedi

शिशुपालःShishupala

तुbut / indeed

तवof you / your

अक्ष्णोःof (your) two eyes

समक्षम्in the presence of / before

एवindeed

हतःwas slain

अभवत्became / happened / was

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Vāyudeva (Vāyu)

Śiśupāla

Cedi (Cedi-deśa / kingdom of Cedi)

yuddha (battle/war)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames killing in war through an ethical lens of protection: an act presented as harsh but undertaken ‘for your welfare.’ It highlights the Mahābhārata theme that outcomes in conflict are often attributed to higher agency and prior moral causality, not merely human prowess.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva speaks, claiming responsibility for slaying someone at the very outset of battle for the listener’s benefit, and cites the well-known example of Śiśupāla, the king of Cedi, being killed openly before their eyes—invoking a precedent of decisive, witnessed destruction of a powerful foe.