Shloka 8
Jarāsandha-vadha-upadeśa and the Departure toward Magadha (जरासन्धवधोपदेशः मागधप्रस्थानं च)
(तस्य बालस्य यत् कृत्यं तत् कुरुष्व नराधिप । मम नाम्ना च लोके5स्मिन् ख्यात एष भविष्यति ।।) राजन्! अब इस बालकके लिये जो आवश्यक संस्कार हैं, उन्हें करो। यह इस संसारमें मेरे ही नामसे विख्यात होगा। मेरुं वा खादितुं शक्ता कि पुनस्तव बालकम् | गृहसम्पूजनात् तुष्ट्या मया प्रत्यर्पितस्तव,मुझमें सुमेरु पर्वतको भी निगल जानेकी शक्ति है; फिर तुम्हारे इस बच्चेको खा जाना कौन बड़ी बात है? किंतु तुम्हारे घरमें जो मेरी भलीभाँति पूजा होती आयी है, उसीसे संतुष्ट होकर मैंने तुम्हें यह बालक समर्पित किया है
tasya bālasya yat kṛtyaṃ tat kuruṣva narādhipa | mama nāmnā ca loke 'smin khyāta eṣa bhaviṣyati || meruṃ vā khādituṃ śaktā kiṃ punas tava bālakam | gṛhasampūjanāt tuṣṭyā mayā pratyarpitas tava ||
O king, perform for this child whatever rites and duties are proper for him. In this world he will become renowned by my very name. I have the power to swallow even Mount Meru—what then of your child? Yet, being pleased by the faithful worship long offered in your house, I return this child to you.
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly power is secondary to dharma and devotion: the king should fulfill the child’s prescribed rites and responsibilities, while the divine response comes not from coercion but from being pleased by sincere, sustained worship and proper honoring.
Śrīkṛṣṇa addresses a king, instructing him to carry out the child’s necessary rites and duties, predicting the child’s renown by Kṛṣṇa’s name. He underscores his own overwhelming power (able to swallow even Meru) yet explains that, satisfied with the household’s devoted worship, he returns the child safely to the king.