Shloka 6

Devanagari script

या हास्य परमा शक्तिर्जयस्य च परायणम्‌ | सा शक्तिर्वासुदेवेन व्यंसिता च घटोत्कचे,जो इसकी सबसे बड़ी शक्ति और विजयका आधार-स्तम्भ थी, उस दिव्य शक्तिको घटोत्कचपर चलवाकर श्रीकृष्णने व्यर्थ कर दिया

Transliteration

yā hāsya paramā śaktir jayasya ca parāyaṇam | sā śaktir vāsudevena vyaṃsitā ca ghaṭotkace ||

Translation

Jene Waffe, seine höchste Macht und der tragende Pfeiler seines Sieges, ließ Vāsudeva gegen Ghaṭotkaca verbrauchen; so wurde diese göttliche Kraft für ihren ursprünglichen Zweck zunichte.

Word by Word

याwhich

हindeed/for emphasis

अस्यof him/of this (one)

परमाsupreme

शक्तिःpower/weapon (shakti)

जयस्यof victory

चand

परायणम्chief support/refuge

साthat

शक्तिःthe shakti-weapon

वासुदेवेनby Vasudeva (Krishna)

व्यंसिताrendered futile/neutralized

चand

घटोत्कचेupon/against Ghaṭotkaca

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

Ghaṭotkaca

Śakti (divine weapon/missile)

Victory (jaya)

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?

Power and victory are not merely matters of force; they depend on discerning leadership that prioritizes the larger protection of dharma. The verse frames Kṛṣṇa’s intervention as a strategic and ethical decision: neutralizing a decisive weapon by redirecting it, even when that entails painful sacrifice.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva explains that the enemy’s greatest victory-securing weapon (the Śakti) was made to be used on Ghaṭotkaca through Vāsudeva’s strategy. Once spent, it could no longer serve its intended, more decisive purpose later in the war.