Shloka 11
Jarāsandha–Vāsudeva Saṃvāda: Kṣātra-Dharma, Pride, and the Ethics of Coercion
Sabhā Parva, Adhyāya 20
निहतश्न जरासंधो मोक्षिताश्न महीक्षित: | राजसूयश्न मे लब्धो निदेशे तव तिकछत:ः,आपकी आज्ञाके अनुसार चलनेमात्रसे मैं यह मानता हूँ कि जरासंध मारा गया। समस्त राजा उसकी कैदसे छुटकारा पा गये और मेरा राजसूययज्ञ भी पूरा हो गया
nihataś ca jarāsandho mokṣitāś ca mahīkṣitaḥ | rājasūyaś ca me labdho nideśe tava tiṣṭhataḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Simply by abiding in your instruction, I deem Jarāsandha slain, the kings released from captivity, and my Rājasūya sacrifice secured. I do not credit this success to my own strength, but to obedience to wise counsel and to the dharmic guidance you bestowed.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights humility and ethical leadership: Yudhiṣṭhira credits success to following righteous counsel rather than personal pride, implying that dharmic guidance and disciplined obedience can yield both political victory and moral legitimacy.
After Jarāsandha’s defeat and the freeing of kings he had imprisoned, Yudhiṣṭhira acknowledges that these outcomes—and the securing of his Rājasūya—were accomplished by adhering to the instruction of the one he addresses (contextually, Kṛṣṇa’s guidance).