Shloka 6
Jarā’s Account and the Enthronement of Jarāsandha (जरासंधोत्पत्तिः अभिषेकश्च)
ते वयं नयमास्थाय शत्र॒ुदेहसमीपगा: । कथमन्तं न गच्छेम वृक्षस्थेव नदीरया: । पररन्ध्रे पराक्रान्ता: स्वरन्ध्रावरणे स्थिता:
te vayaṁ nayam āsthāya śatrudeha-samīpagāḥ | katham antaṁ na gacchema vṛkṣastheva nadīrayāḥ | pararandhre parākrāntāḥ svarandhrāvaraṇe sthitāḥ |
Vāyu-deva sprach: „Wenn wir, einer klugen Strategie folgend, bis an den Leib des Feindes herankommen, warum sollten wir ihn nicht zu seinem Ende bringen – wie die Flut des Flusses den Baum am Ufer entwurzelt? Indem wir unsere eigenen Schwächen verbergen, werden wir nach den Verwundbarkeiten des Gegners spähen; und wenn der Augenblick kommt, werden wir diese Öffnung mit entscheidender Kraft treffen.“
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse advocates nīti (prudent strategy): protect one’s own vulnerabilities while identifying and exploiting the opponent’s weak points, striking decisively when conditions are favorable.
Vāyu-deva speaks in a counsel-like tone, urging a tactical approach against an enemy—drawing close, concealing one’s own weaknesses, and attacking the enemy’s exposed ‘opening’ at the right moment, illustrated by the metaphor of a river’s force destroying a tree.