Shloka 37
Rāma–Jāmadagnya-janma-kāraṇa and Kṣatra-kṣaya
Paraśurāma’s origins and the depletion/restoration of kṣatriya lineages
ददौ स पृथिवीं सर्वा सप्तद्वीपां सपर्वताम् स्वबाह्वस्वबलेनाजौ जित्वा परमधर्मवित्
dadau sa pṛthivīṁ sarvāṁ saptadvīpāṁ saparvatām | svabāhv-asvabalenājau jitvā paramadharmavit ||
Vāsudeva sprach: Nachdem jener König, der das Dharma in höchstem Maße kannte, im Kampf durch die Kraft seiner eigenen Arme die ganze Erde mit ihren sieben Kontinenten und Bergen erobert hatte, verschenkte er sie als Gabe—und gab das Gewonnene nach dem höchsten Gesetz von Freigebigkeit und Rechtschaffenheit dahin.
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power and victory are not presented as ends in themselves: the ideal ruler, though capable of conquering by personal valor, is praised as ‘parama-dharma-vit’ because he converts possession into righteous giving—using sovereignty as a means to uphold dharma through dāna (generosity) and restraint.
Vāsudeva describes a king who wins the whole earth—symbolically ‘with seven continents and mountains’—through his own martial strength, and then gives it away as a gift, highlighting the model of a universal ruler whose conquest culminates in charitable donation rather than mere enjoyment.