Shloka 17
Chapter 6: Dāruka’s Report; Arjuna Witnesses Dvārakā’s Desolation (दारुकवृत्तान्तः—अर्जुनस्य द्वारकादर्शनम्)
अश्रत्थाम्ना हतश्षापि जीवितस्तस्य तेजसा । परंतप! तुम्हारा पौत्र परीक्षित् अश्वत्थामाद्वारा मार डाला गया था तो भी श्रीकृष्णके तेजसे वह जीवित हो गया। यह तो तुमलोगोंकी आँखों-देखी घटना है ।। इमांस्तु नैच्छत् स्वान् ज्ञातीन् रक्षितुंच सखा तव,इतने शक्तिशाली होते हुए भी तुम्हारे सखाने अपने इन भाई-बन्धुओंको प्राणसंकटसे बचानेकी इच्छा नहीं की। जब पुत्र, पौत्र, भाई और मित्र सभी एक-दूसरेके हाथसे मरकर धराशायी हो गये तब उन्हें उस अवस्थामें देखकर श्रीकृष्ण मेरे पास आये और इस प्रकार बोले--
aśvatthāmnā hataḥ śāpi jīvitas tasya tejasā | paraṃtapa! tava pautraḥ parīkṣid aśvatthāmadvārā māritaḥ san api śrīkṛṣṇatejasā jīvitaḥ | etad yuṣmākaṃ cakṣuṣā dṛṣṭaṃ vṛttāntam | imāṃs tu naicchat svān jñātīn rakṣituṃ ca sakhā tava; itthaṃ śaktimān api tava sakhā svān bhrātṛ-bandhūn prāṇasaṅkaṭāt paritrātuṃ necchat | yadā putra-pautra-bhrātṛ-mitrāṇi sarvāṇi paraspara-hastair hatvā nipatitāni, tān tathāvasthān dṛṣṭvā śrīkṛṣṇaḥ mama samīpam āgacchat, evaṃ ca uvāca—
Vasudeva said: “O scorcher of foes! Though your grandson Parikshit had been struck down by Ashvatthama, he was restored to life by the radiance of Sri Krishna—this is something you yourselves witnessed. Yet your friend, despite possessing such power, did not choose to protect his own kinsmen, nor did he wish to rescue these brothers and relatives from mortal peril. When sons, grandsons, brothers, and friends had fallen—slain by one another’s hands—Sri Krishna, seeing them in that condition, came to me and spoke as follows.”
वसुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights a moral tension: even immense power does not always translate into intervention. Krishna’s saving of Parikshit shows divine grace and the preservation of dharma’s continuity, while the refusal to avert the wider slaughter underscores the heavy consequences of collective karma and the limits (or chosen restraint) of protection when destruction has ripened.
Vasudeva reminds the listener that Parikshit, though killed by Ashvatthama, was revived by Krishna’s divine potency—an event witnessed by all. He then notes that Krishna, despite his power, did not choose to save his own kinsmen from impending death. After mutual killings leave sons, grandsons, brothers, and friends fallen, Krishna approaches Vasudeva and begins to speak, setting up the next portion of the chapter.