Shloka 2
Abhimanyunidhana-prakāśaḥ — Vasudeva–Kṛṣṇa–Subhadrā–Kuntī śoka-saṃvāda
Disclosure and Consolation
त्वंतु प्रत्यक्षदर्शी च रूपज्ञश्न महाभुज । तस्मात् प्रब्रृहि संग्रामं याथातथ्येन मेडनघ,महाबाहो! तुम तो उस युद्धके प्रत्यक्षदर्शी हो और उसके स्वरूपको भी भलीभाँति जानते हो: अत: अनघ! मुझसे उस युद्धका यथार्थ वर्णन करो
tvaṁ tu pratyakṣadarśī ca rūpajñaś ca mahābhuja | tasmāt prabrūhi saṅgrāmaṁ yāthātathyena me 'nagha mahābāho ||
Vasudeva said: “You are a direct witness of it, and you also understand the true nature of what occurred, O mighty-armed one. Therefore, O sinless hero, tell me the account of that war exactly as it happened.”
वसुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes ethical narration: when recounting a morally weighty event like war, the most reliable account comes from an eyewitness who also understands the event’s true nature, and it should be told “yāthātathyena”—exactly as it happened.
Vasudeva addresses a heroic figure who personally witnessed the war and knows its realities, requesting a truthful, accurate description of the conflict.