Shloka 20
Uttanka’s Inquiry and Vāsudeva’s Adhyātma Exposition
Guṇa–Ritual–Immanence Teaching
उत्तडुक उवाच यस्माच्छक्तेन ते कृष्ण न त्राता: कुरुपुड्रवा: । सम्बन्धिन: प्रियास्तस्माच्छप्स्ये5हं त्वामसंशयम्,उत्तंक बोले--श्रीकृष्ण! कौरव तुम्हारे प्रिय सम्बन्धी थे, तथापि शक्ति रखते हुए भी तुमने उनकी रक्षा न की। इसलिये मैं तुम्हें अवश्य शाप दूँगा
uttaṅka uvāca | yasmāc chaktena te kṛṣṇa na trātāḥ kurupuṅgavāḥ | sambandhinaḥ priyās tasmāc chapsye'haṃ tvām asaṃśayam ||
Uttaṅka said: “O Kṛṣṇa, though you had the power, you did not protect the foremost of the Kurus, the Kauravas. Since they were your own dear kinsmen, for that reason I shall certainly curse you.”
उत्तडुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds moral accountability: possessing the capacity to prevent harm can be construed as a duty, especially toward one’s own kin. Uttaṅka frames Kṛṣṇa’s non-intervention as ethically blameworthy and invokes the traditional mechanism of a sage’s curse as a response to perceived adharma.
In the Aśvamedhika context after the great war, the sage Uttaṅka confronts Kṛṣṇa. He accuses Kṛṣṇa of failing to protect the leading Kuru figures despite having the power to do so, and declares his intention to curse Kṛṣṇa with certainty.