Shloka 2

Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances

Devanagari script

साहाय्य॑ धार्तराष्ट्स्य न च कर्तास्मि केशव । न चैव पाण्डुपुत्राणां गमिष्यामि यथागतम्‌

Transliteration

sāhāyyaṃ dhārtarāṣṭrasya na ca kartāsmi keśava | na caiva pāṇḍuputrāṇāṃ gamiṣyāmi yathāgatam ||

Translation

„Keśava, ich werde kein Verbündeter des Sohnes Dhṛtarāṣṭras sein; und so, wie es jetzt steht, werde ich mich auch nicht den Söhnen Pāṇḍus anschließen.“ Damit bekräftigt er eine bewusste Haltung des Nicht-Mitwirkens: keiner Seite Kraft zu leihen, da der Krieg herannaht.

Word by Word

• साहाय्यम्: help, assistance
• साहाय्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: साहाय्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• धार्तराष्ट्रस्य: of the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Duryodhana)
• धार्तराष्ट्रस्य: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धार्तराष्ट्र
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• कर्तास्मि: I will do / I shall be a doer (i.e., I will act)
• कर्तास्मि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Present (Lat), First, Singular, Parasmaipada

• केशव: O Keśava (Krishna)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• पाण्डुपुत्राणाम्: of the sons of Pāṇḍu (the Pāṇḍavas)
• पाण्डुपुत्राणाम्: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डुपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• गमिष्यामि: I will go
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: Future (Lṛṭ), First, Singular, Parasmaipada

• यथा: as, in the manner that
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• आगतम्: come/arrived (as I came)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-गम्
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Keśava (Śrī Kṛṣṇa)
• Dhārtarāṣṭra (Kaurava side; Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son, i.e., Duryodhana by implication)
• Pāṇḍuputrāḥ (the Pāṇḍavas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights ethical agency in times of conflict: one may consciously refuse to empower either faction, choosing restraint and distance rather than becoming an instrument of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Addressing Keśava (Kṛṣṇa), the speaker declares that he will neither support the Kaurava side (Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son) nor join the Pāṇḍavas, signaling a decision to stay apart as the war nears.